The Crash
by gibbsrossi
Summary: Can Nate make it out of a desperate situation, can the team find him and save him in time? There is a twist in the tale too...Teamfic and N/S
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The team were gathered at the dining table in Nates apartment which doubled for their HQ. They were waiting for Nate to arrive back from his trip to Alaska to check out a prospective new client. He was running late and the team decided that breakfast was a good idea while they waited. Hardison had the TV on CNN in the background. He flicked his eyes at the screen when something caught his attention. The lettering below the muted news reader read that a small plane had gone down in Alaska. Hardison grabbed the remote and put the sound up on the TV much to the disgust of the rest of the team.

"Dammit Hardison…" Eliot said annoyed at the action… "Not during meal time!" He finished like an exasperated parent telling their child not to do something they should no not to anyway.

"Shutup Eliot." Hardison returned turning the sound higher.

_Again to recap a small aircraft has crashed in Alaska, according to the flight information the aircraft was carrying the pilot and one passenger. The aircraft is believed to have gone down in a very remote area which is heavily wooded and according to the rescue teams this along with the weather is hampering attempts to locate the downed craft. It is not known at this time if there were any survivors. The names of the pilot and passenger have not been released at this time. We will keep you updated on the story as the saga continues._

"Oh my God!" Sophie exclaimed watching the news report.

"It's not Nates plane." Parker said softly although her tone conveyed more hope than fact.

Eliot grabbed his phone and dialed Nates number. Dead air met his attempt and he raised his eyes to Hardison who was already on the computer trying to get more information than the news report had given. He had hacked into the airport tracking system which showed all aircraft flying and identified the one that had gone down. Then he hacked into the communication link and recorded radio communication. He immediately recognized the voice calling "May Day, May Day…"

"Guys I think you need to listen to this…" Hardison said casting an eye at Eliot and motioning to Sophie. Eliot picked up the cue and moved behind the woman who was already visibly distraught.

"May Day, May Day…" The voice was unmistakably Nate Fords. "This is flight 20194 out of Anchorage we have had an explosion on board, the pilot is dead, we are losing altitude, the instruments are not working, I do not know if this is getting through to anybody but I am going to try to set the plane down. I…" The transmission ended with a loud explosion and shortly after that the blip that had been Nates plane disappeared from the screen.

"Nate…" Was all Sophie said her eyes filling with tears which spilt over leaving black streaks of mascara on her cheeks.

"Hardison get us a plane now…" Eliot said although he knew his instruction was redundant as the hacker was already organizing things on his computer.

"Eliot…" Sophie said softly turning her red eyes up to him. "Please…"

"Sophie we are going to get him back, we are!" Eliot said trying to force himself to believe that Nate was still alive. But that explosion… then nothing… he doubted Nate had even been able to attempt landing the plane, but he was Nate and anything was possible and Eliot was not going to give up on him until he found a body.

Parker had watched the scene unfold, listened to the recording and watched as Sophie crumpled. She was not sure how to react except the burning sensation in her eyes told her that she too was crying and the knot in her stomach was almost more than she could bear. She had never lost anything of this magnitude; she had not understood Nates pain at loosing his son until now. _No_ she told herself _you have not lost Nate, he is alive he is out there and he needs your help. _She stood up and started up the stairs to pack what they would need for the trip. Sophie watched her go then followed knowing what she was going to do, she left the two boys to organize the trip and generate the maps for the search area that they would need.

Within an hour they were ready to leave. As they gathered around the work bench Sophie picked up her bag and head to the door.

"Let's go steal a Nate" was all she said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

They arrived in the little town of Kenai which is where the search effort was being coordinated from. Hardison had booked them a hotel room and a vehicle which they picked up at the airport. They decided they would go straight to the HQ of the search to find out what was happening before going to the Hotel to plan what they would be doing. Eliot had contacted a friend of his who had his own helicopter and was an ex Marine Chopper pilot and he would arrive later that day.

Parking the car outside the building they walked in to find it almost complete empty. It looked to them as if the people were clearing up and closing up shop. But that could not be true, surely they had not already given up the search.

"Excuse me sir…" Sophie said to a man taking a map down from the walls. "We are looking for the search coordinator."

"Hi. That would be me. I'm sorry ma'am but the search has been called off. Who are you?" Finishing with the map and turning to face her.

"What do you mean called off?" Sophie blurted out.

"Sorry… who are you?" The man said taking in the distraught features on the lady that stood before him and taking in the other three people lined up behind her.

"I'm…I'm…" Sophie stuttered her usually glib way of handling people gone with the idea that they had already writen off Nate as dead.

"We are Nate Fords' family." Eliot said quietly.

"Oh…" The man said his face softening. "I am sorry but it has been determined that the plane exploded in mid-air. There is no chance of finding the wreckage in this weather. I am so sorry."

"So you are not even going to look for him?" Parker said anger building in her voice.

"Ma'am as I said, there is…" He was not sure how to continue but took a deep breath and added that there was no way that Nate had survived the explosion and even if he had he would have died by now out in that wilderness with the weather as it was at the moment. He also added when he saw the murderous look on her face that even if they were to continue the search they would have to wait for the blizzard to pass as all flights had been grounded over the area due to the weather.

"I am sorry…and you have my condolences on your loss." He finished and then quickly departed leaving four devastated people in his wake.

"What do we do now?" Parker whispered burying her head in Hardisons chest.

"We do what we came here to do…" Eliot said a determination setting into his voice. "We find Nate and take him home." Even if it is just his body he did not add.

"Yes…yes we find Nate." Sophie whimpered.

Alec Hardison held Parker tightly but said nothing not trusting himself to be able to speak. Nate was dead he was sure of it, but until they had a body Eliot and the rest of them would never give up the search.

"Well there is nothing we can do here until Kevin arrives with the Chopper so let's go back to the Hotel and get cleaned up." Eliot said wrapping his arm around Sophie and leading her out of the door towards their car.

Hardison followed his arm firmly wrapped around Parker who was leaning heavily on him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"_This is flight 20194 out of Anchorage we have had an explosion on board, the pilot is dead, we are losing altitude, the instruments are not working, I do not know if this is getting through to anybody but I am going to try to set the plane down. I…"_

Another explosion rocked the plane as the second engine burst into flames. Nate was rocked back in the copilots' seat and glass shards pierced him as the windscreen shattered into a million pieces. He grabbed the controls dropping the radio and tried to control the careering plane. He knew he was probably going to die but he was not going to go without a fight. He pulled back on the yolk trying to keep the dying planes nose up as he hit the trees. He tried to fight for control but a blow to the head rendered him unconscious for the last part of the planes decent to earth and final stop. Smoke filled the cabin and Nate slowly returned to consciousness. His body ached from the cuts and bruises he had received. He coughed as he took in a lungful of smoke causing a sharp excruciating pain to pierce his chest and he knew he had cracked or broken at least one rib. He tried to move his left arm to unclip the belt that had held him in the seat but it would not cooperate with him. Reaching over with his right arm he finally managed to free himself. He forced himself to his feet giddy from lack of oxygen and loss of blood he stumbled his way to the non-existent back of the plane and painfully climbed out. He realized that it was only a matter of minutes before the entire thing exploded and tried to hurry to a safe distance. He heard the explosion before he felt the force of it knock him into the snow. He felt the cold white crystals engulf him, he felt the pain as he landed is left arm pinned beneath him then he felt nothing as blackness overtook him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had been two days since they had arrived to search for Nate. Two frustrating days of not having any luck with the weather, the blizzard that had been hampering the official search had gotten worse and although they were all willing to take the risk of flying over the designated search area there would have been no point. Finally the weather had cleared a little and they were on their way to the helipad ready to go look for him. None of them spoke, each were busy with their own thoughts. Nate was dead. That all of them knew, there was no possible way he could have survived an explosion and a crash and then this weather as well. They were going to look for his body and that was all. The last two days had been hard. They had been confined to their little hotel room with only their thoughts and each other. During those two days though they had each expressed their love for the man they had lost.

Parker had been the first to broach the subject of Nate. The team had been avoiding mentioning his name even though they were all working feverously to determine just where to look for him.

"I never thought I would know how to love…" She sniffed as the tears welled again. "Or be loved but…but he…he gave that to me."

"Parker…" Hardison said as he moved toward her and took her in his arms.

"He accepted me, he never…never wanted to change me or make me…he was/is/was always there…" Parker continued the tears now streaming down her face. It was hard for her to express her feelings but if she did not she felt she would burst. He had made it possible for her to have those feelings; he had given her a family that she felt safe enough to express them too.

Despite the tears on her face Sophie smiled to herself. Nate would be proud of his little thief.

"He said he would…would…would die for me, he told Archie that he would DIE for me." With that she could not control her sobbing and sank into Hardison racked by long deep sobs that tore at all their hearts.

"He would have." Sophie stated clearly. "He would have died for any one of us. Parker if there is one thing I know about Nathan Ford it is that he would sacrifice everything for his family. We are his family." She took in each one of them and as her eyes found them they nodded in response to her speech.

"He is the closest thing I have ever had to a father." Hardison stated. "I wanted…to make him…proud."

"He was." Sophie said simply.

"He…I respected him more than any other man…he was more…meant more than…" Eliot stopped, he found he could not express his admiration and respect and yes love, like that of a son, for this man. This man who had giving him a family, a home, a place to belong and people to belong with.

Sophie could feel his pain, she wanted to break down and cry herself but she couldn't Nate would want her to be strong. She had to be strong for his family; for his children.

"He…he." She could not bring herself to say anything for fear of loosing it in front of them. She was not going to do that, for Nate she was not going to do that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kevin MacDougal knocked at the door of the hotel room. It was 5am and he was ready to take the Chopper up. The door opened to reveal four eager ready and waiting people. Saying nothing he turned and walked to his car. The rest followed and they drove in silence to the Helipad. Kevin was an old friend of Eliot's and had served with him a few times. He had never seen him look so…so lost he decided was the right word. This man, this Nathan Ford must mean a lot to him. To all of them he decided. Eliot was not a man to give his loyalty lightly so he also must have been one hell of a man. Now they were going to look for his body in the God-Forsaken wilderness of Alaska. Kevin knew that the chances of them finding either the body or the wreckage from the crash as slim, but he hoped they would for all their sakes.

They had been flying over the search area for 6 hours and fuel was running low.

"One more pass Eliot then we have to get back" Kevin called over the intercom.

Eliot merely nodded in response his eyes glued to the landscape below looking for any sign of the wrecked airplane. Suddenly he jolted upright.

"There" he called out pointing to a patch of forest that seemed to be darker than the rest. "There Kevin, can you take us down closer?" Eliot called again.

"OK…" Kevin maneuvered the helicopter down to the area Eliot had pointed out.

Below them they could see some of the wreckage now. The cockpit was intact but burnt out form the explosion and the trees around the wreck were blackened from the ensuing fire that it caused. Eliot's hart sank at the sight. Nate was dead, there was no getting away from that now.

"I can't put her down here; I am going to look for a clearing." Kevin called.

The group nodded in unison, each of them unable to tear their eyes away from the burnt out hulk, each of them feeling their hearts cringe at the sight knowing that survival from that was not an option.

Kevin set the chopper down about 500m from the crash site and they started making their way through the dense forest and thick snow.

It took them a good 15 minutes to fight their way to the crash site. Sophie stopped short of approaching the wreck for fear of what she knew they were going to find inside. The burnt body of the only man she had ever and would ever truly love. Parker too stood back unable to get herself to approach the plane. Eliot walked forward. He knew he was going to see something he did not want too but he had too, he was the only one in the team that could. Hardison stood beside Parker holding her tight as much for her sake as his.

Eliot approached the plane he could clearly see the charred body of somebody in the cockpit. Clambering into the hulk he noticed that the body was situated in the pilots seat. There was no other sign of human remains charred or otherwise. Could he have gotten out before…no not even Nate Ford could have surely he couldn't have.

He could see the apprehension on the faces of the others as he came back from the wreckage. Sophie held her breath as she waiting for Eliot to give the bad news.

"He's not in there." Eliot stated. "He must have made it out before the explosion, I don't know how but he must have."

"Oh God, he could be buried in 10 foot of snow right below our feet and we would not even know it." Sophie said as she took in what Eliot had said. She could not believe that Nate would have been able to walk away from the crash especially in a blizzard in knee deep snow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He awoke to a world of pain. Slowly he rolled his body over and stared up into the darkening sky. Each breath he took sent a sharp piercing pain through him reminding him in no uncertain terms that he had broken a rib or two – he hoped that was all it meant. Lying still he mentally took stock of his injuries. One was the ribs – definitely one or more broken or cracked. Two he had a number of cuts from the shattered windscreen amongst other things. Three he could not feel anything in his left arm – he had no idea what was wrong but he was sure it was not good. Four his entire body ached from being thrown around during the explosions and the crash itself, he knew that there was potentially internal bleeding and he also suspected from the ache in his head that he probably had a concussion.

Next Nate considered his current not so pleasant situation. Apart from the injuries, he was stranded in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and from the look of the sky he was about to be caught in the middle of a pretty nasty storm. He was cold and could feel the wetness of the snow permeating his clothing causing a shiver to run through his body. If he did not find a way to stand up and find shelter his injuries would be the least of his worries.

He considered this for a while as the snow started to fall again. On the other hand he thought; he could just lie here in the snow and go to sleep and that would be the end. He could just drift off into slumber and he would never wake up again. No more pain. No more anything. His mind drifted to images of his son, his wife, his life that used to be. Maybe this was the way it was meant to be. Maybe he should accept the inevitable and welcome death. Slowly he closed his eyes and the image of Sam grew larger and it seemed to Nate that he was beckoning to him; asking him to leave behind the pain and the suffering and embrace the peace of never-ending sleep.

**Thanks for all your reviews they are greatly appreciated. I will try to post the next chapter soon.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Elliot we need to get back." Kevin said quietly. "We can refuel and then return in the morning with some equipment to…" he hesitated unsure of what he should say. "Search for the body." He finished softly.

Eliot turned to look at his friend. He sighed deeply. Kevin was right, they would be returning to look for Nate's body. His friend, their leader, a man he admired and respected more than any other was most certainly dead. Eliot knew that, felt it deep in his heart. This was not a rescue mission anymore if it ever had been. No this was a recovery mission and probably had been from the start. He just nodded in agreement to Kevin and then turned back to his friends, his family. He had to be strong now, for them. Not only for them, for Nate too. The next few days were going to be hard for all of them. Nate was more than a friend to them. More than just their leader and Mastermind. He had been their anchor, their rock. He had been the one to carry them through the hard times and keep them together. He had been the one who was able to get them out of any situation, no matter how hopeless it had seemed. He had not only molded them into the formidable team they were now, he had given them something none of them thought they would ever have – a family.

"We have to go." He said softly.

"No, no I am not leaving until we have found him." Parker said pulling away from Hardison. "He is here, he is here and he is NOT DEAD." Parker almost screamed at Eliot.

"Parker…" Hardison started to say but Parker drowned out his plea.

"No, no, no…no Alec…he did not abandon you when you were taken by those drug dealers, he found a way to find you and save you. How can you just want to abandon him?" Parker said her eyes boring into the Hacker. She angrily wiped away the tears in her eyes and turned to Eliot. "We are NOT leaving him out here alone." She said vehemently.

"Nobody is leaving him out here Parker." Sophie said quietly. She did not turn to face them her eyes still fixed on the wreckage. "None of us are leaving him out here alone. But Eliot is right, we have to go now, it is pointless us being out here after dark with no equipment to search with. Now all of you get moving to the Chopper NOW." As she gave the last instruction she turned abruptly and set off toward the Chopper without a backward glance.

Parker stared blankly at the Grifter's disappearing back. She wanted to argue. She wanted to tell Sophie that she could walk out on Nate again, on them, but she couldn't. She just stared at the Grifter tears filling her eyes as she followed the older woman down the path. Eliot and Hardison gave each other a look before also setting off.

Kevin watched as the group of four approached and started his pre-liftoff checks. The four climbed in and took their seats. None of them said a word as the bird lifted off and started the journey back to Kenai. Sophie stared blankly out the window her eyes swimming with unshed tears. Parker curled up to Hardison who in turn wrapped his arms around her holding on to her. Eliot sat back in his seat and watched the other three. He was not sure how he was going to get them through this but he was sure of one thing, they would get through this as a family, they had to, it was what Nate would want.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

He was drifting away slowly. In his minds eyes he saw Sam calling him into the peaceful sanctuary of death and he moved along swiftly to catch him. Then he stopped.

His eyes flew open bringing consciousness and along with it the reality of his situation. Pain and cold flooded his being. Tears formed in his eyes as he realized that as much as he wanted to go with Sam. He wanted to leave this place, leave behind everything and just sleep he knew he could not. He was suddenly amazed at this thought. He had never considered that the family he now had meant as much to him as the one he once had. Nothing could replace Sam, but they were his family and he loved…yes he thought, he loved them. That is why he knew he had to try. Hopeless as his situation was and as much pain as what he was in he had to try. They were worth it, Sophie, Eliot, Parker and Hardison, his family were worth trying for.

**Sorry this one is so short but the next is coming soon. Thanks again for the reviews – really appreciated.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Once they had returned to their Hotel the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get the equipment they would need for the search. Luckily most of the equipment the official search would have used was still in town and Parker made short work of stealing what they needed there. By late afternoon they were all set to get back to the site to look for Nate. Eliot suggested that they go have dinner at a local restaurant and then get an early night. None of the four was really in the mood for eating but Eliot's insistence that they needed to keep up their strength because it was going to be a long day tomorrow won them over.

When they had got back from dinner, Parker and Hardison had disappeared after confirming that they would be ready at five the next morning. Sophie invited Eliot in for a drink before going to bed. She did not want to sleep and she did not want to be alone.

"Do you think there is any possibility that he made it out…that he is still alive?" Sophie asked softly taking a sip of her bourbon. She knew there was none but wanted somebody to make it real for her, verbalize it.

"No…no Sophie I don't. Even if he made it through the crash and the explosion, from what I saw of the area there is nowhere that he could have found shelter. That was one hellova storm that passed through there. Let's also not forget that it has been two days since the crash, two days that he would have had to survive, through a blizzard in the middle of nowhere without any shelter." Eliot shook his head as he spoke then lapsed into silence the reality of accepting that Nate was gone, of verbalizing it to the woman overwhelming him briefly.

"What do you mean even if…he wasn't in the plane so he must have made it out!" Sophie reminded him.

"Soph he could have been thrown out after the explosion or during the crash…" Eliot tried to explain.

"No, no he wasn't, he couldn't have been, he must have been in the plane when it crashed and then made it out." Sophie blurted out.

"Sophie…the chances…"

"No Eliot. You don't understand. If he was thrown out then we will NEVER find him. He has to be in that area. He has to!" Sophie said downing the rest of her drink.

"Sophie…we may never find his body…you, you know that." Eliot said hesitantly.

"We WILL find his body, we WILL take him home and we WILL bury him with his son. Is that clear Eliot Spencer, we ARE going to take him home and lay him to rest and give him the peace he deserves. I don't care how long it takes is that understood?" Sophie said forcefully glaring at the Hitter. Suddenly her eyes softened again and filled with tears. "We have to Eliot, we owe him that." She said whispered.

"Yes we do. Yes we will, no matter how long it takes." Eliot said as he stood and replaced her drink for her. "Now I think we finish this up and get to bed, tomorrow is not going to be an easy day…for any of us."

**Thanks again for the reviews. Will try and post the next chapter as soon as possible.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

With much effort Nate forced himself into a sitting position. He felt a wave of dizziness and nausea wash over him. His left arm still hung uselessly but at least it was not painful he thought. He slowly looked around him, taking in the sight of the burnt out wreckage that was once the front portion of a very nice little Cessna. Well there was no way that thing was going to provide any shelter. There did not seem to be any other forms of shelter around either. He was not in a mountainous area so the chances of a cave were not good. There were a lot of trees but they were tall and without much foliage except at the tops. That he thought would be of no help either.

He sat there for a while as the snow started to fall harder and the sky darkened even more. A storm was brewing and if Nate was any judge, not that he was really, but even he could see this was not going to be a passing light snowstorm. He was not sure how severe his injuries were but shelter came first he would worry about other things later. _Think dammit Nate think_. He told himself. He wracked his brain going through different scenarios, different ways he could either make a shelter or different places he could look for shelter. Then he smiled slightly. The other half of this wreck must be somewhere. The tail portion had broken off during the crash…he assumed as he had not been compus mentus as the time to take notes. It must be around here somewhere not too far. It could provide the shelter he needed. He just had to find it!

First he thought he would have a look around the wreckage for anything that he could use before setting off to find the rest of the plane. He knew that the pilot had been carrying supplies to Kenai where they would have made a stop before continuing their journey. He was not sure what kind of supplies but hopefully ones that would be useful to him in his current situation. Not to mention the fact that he was bargaining on the damn things still being inside the tail portion when he found it. Nate was not a stupid man, he knew the chances of him finding the wreckage were slim, then, finding it in any sort of form to serve as shelter was another thing entirely. He also knew that he could not ignore the fact that he was not in a good physical state to survive for very long without medical help. He also knew he had to try. They would be looking for him, he was sure of that. There should be an official search, he had sent out a mayday. Looking up at the skies he knew that officially they would probably call the search off though. But they would not. Eliot, Sophie, Parker and Hardison would be coming for him, of that he had no doubt whatsoever.

With great effort Nate hauled himself to his feet. He stood swaying slightly before trying to move towards the wreckage. He took no more than a step or two before finding himself face down in the snow. It was deep and difficult to walk through. If just getting to the wreckage which was mere meters from him was this difficult how in the hell was he going to go looking for the shelter he needed? He asked himself as he lay there. But with a determination born of desperation he forced himself up again. After what seemed like a lifetime he made it too the wreckage and sat down heavily of the edge of the torn midsection. Looking inside he could see the pilot still strapped into his chair, burnt to a cinder. Looking around the interior he sighed heavily, there was nothing here he could use. Everything had been destroyed by the final explosion and subsequent fire. Again with a supreme effort he climbed into the wreckage and made his way to the cockpit. The radio was burnt and dead, not that he had expected anything else. He searched the dead pilots' body, tapping gently on the burnt corpse and was rewarded with finding a small penknife that had survived the fire in one of his pockets. Nate knew from the short walk here that he would need something that he could use as makeshift snowshoes; otherwise he was not going to get very far at all out there. So he scoured the wreckage for anything that would suite his purpose. Finally he reasoned that if he cut away parts of the seats he might make something vaguely usable.

He was not sure how long it had been since he had made his way into the wreckage but outside the snow had started coming down heavily. It was time to go. He put his makeshift snowshoes on and stepped into the snow, noting with some satisfaction that he did not sink too deep down. He stood for a short while getting his bearings then set off in the direction that he thought the tail portion would be.

**Hope you all still enjoying it. Reviews please...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

They had been working tirelessly for nearly three hours in the area of the crash but to no avail. Not even a glimmer of hope appeared as they scoured the area for Nate. Eliot could see the frustration and despair on their faces. They started their search near the wreck as the chances of Nate making it too far were not good. Expanding in ever increasing circles around the wreckage they had still not had any luck. Sophie stopped what she was doing and looked over at Eliot. Was what he told her last night was true? Had Nate been thrown from the wreck and they were never going to find his remains? No she told herself. They would find him, they would. She picked up the equipment and started walking in slow circles again. He had to be here.

Eliot started to think along the same lines as Sophie. Nate was gone and they were not even going to get the closure a funeral would bring. Then he stopped and decided to try another track. What if Nate had survived the explosion and the crash, as unlikely as that seemed? What would he do? Well, Eliot decided, the first thing Nate would do was look for shelter. Where would he look? Eliot scanned the area seeing nothing that would even vaguely pass as a place to take shelter from the blizzard that had lashed this area. He walked back to the wreck and clambered in. Making his way to the cockpit he saw something he had missed before. The co-pilots chair had been slashed open and its insides ripped out. The stuffing of the chair lay around the area. Eliot leaned in to get a closer look and froze. He was alive, or at least he had been. The stuffing that lay scattered across the cockpit had not been burned; which logically meant that the damage to the chair had been inflicted after the explosion and fire. The only person who could have done this was Nate. Picking up some of the stuffing and looking closer Eliot noticed red splotches. Blood, there was blood on them. Oh my God he thought. He had no idea how or why but Nate had survived and somehow made it back inside the wreckage after the fire. His forehead knotted into a frown as he wondered why Nate would have destroyed the seat in such a manor. Then a slow smile spread across his face. He had tried to construct snowshoes. Looking at what had been taken from the chair he could easily see how a makeshift pair could have been made. Nate was a genius. So where had he gone…where would he think to look for shelter? Eliot stepped back to the opening and looked out desperately trying to get a clue as to where Nate would have gone.

Parker looked up from where she was working and saw Eliot standing on the wreck staring out at the landscape around them.

"Eliot, what's wrong?" She called out to him interrupting his thoughts.

"Guys stop what you are doing and come over here." He called to all of them.

Sophie stopped her work and looked over at him. She shook her head and refused to believe that Eliot was going to tell them to stop, to give up the search and just accept that Nate was lost to them forever. Still Sophie started to walk towards him mentally noting where she had been busy. Alec and Parker also came over and stood at the opening where Eliot was.

"I believe we need to start looking somewhere else…" Eliot started only to be interrupted by Sophie.

"No Eliot, no he was not thrown out…we talked about this last night."

"I did not mean look for his remains Sophie…" Eliot said to the woman only again to be interrupted by Parker her eyes lighting up as she listened to him.

"You think he is alive. Why. Where do you think he is?" She babbled. Her words immediately causing both Alec and Sophie to stare at Eliot in disbelieve.

"Somebody ripped the co-pilots seat apart AFTER the crash. I think Nate was making himself a pair of snowshoes. I think he is…or at least was, alive after the crash." Eliot said.

"Oh God…where do you think he went?" Sophie said swinging her head in all directions but seeing no obvious course.

"I don't know, but he would have wanted to look for shelter." Eliot said as he too scanned the area again.

"Eliot, what are you standing on?" Alec asked casually. An idea was starting to form in his head.

"What do you mean man Hardison, the plane's wreckage, don't be an idiot." Parker answered for him.

"No Parker," Alec corrected mildly his idea taking root and growing. "Eliot is standing on half a wreckage of an airplane…where is the other half?"

"You're right Hardison. The other half must have broken off during the crash. Of course, Nate would have gone looking for it; it would have been his only chance." Eliot almost shouted.

"How far away do you think it is?" Sophie asked following his eyes in the direction the second wreck should be.

"I don't know Sophie, could be miles or just behind that clump of trees. It depends where the aircraft hit the first trees because it probably snapped in two pieces then." Eliot said jumping of the plane filled with a new sense of energy and purpose.

"Well we will soon enough find out." Parker said turning toward the direction they needed to go. "Come on you guys we have to go get our Nate."

**Really appreciating the reviews, please keep them coming.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Nate felt like he had been walking for days. Each step brought excruciating pain. A thin sheen of sweet covered his forehead. He could no longer feel his feet anymore and his clothes were damp from the effort he was making. The snow was falling hard now and the wind had started to pick up chilling him to the bone. He began to doubt himself. What if the plane had been turned around in the crash and he was looking for the tail in the wrong direction. He could not turn around now; he did not have the strength or the energy to turn around. If he was going in the wrong direction, then this would be the end.

Trudging on he finally got the sign he needed that he was going in the right direction. A crate lay half buried in the snow. It looked like the ones he had seen in the back of the plane. Stopping and sinking to his knees in front of the prized object he forced open its lid with his good hand. Peering inside, disappointment flooded him as he saw nothing that would help him in his current situation. Leaning heavily on the lid of the crate he pushed himself to his feet and continued on.

He almost missed his mark; the tail end of the aircraft lay on its side against a tree and was mostly covered with snow. The white exterior of the craft added to its disguise and if it had not been for the flash of orange that glared out from under the snow that caught his eye, he would have passed it completely. Nate stopped and approached the wreckage. It seemed that the tail had stayed intact at least. It was well entrenched in place by the snow that had already covered it. Walking around it he saw no entrance to the aircraft. He realized that because of the direction of the wind the snow had formed a little "door" to the wrecked craft. Nate moved to the area he thought the opening would be judging from the size of the mound of snow and started digging. He could only use his right arm as the left was still numb and useless. The exercise was painstaking and slow but eventually with a last pull Nate broke through the wall of snow. Peering inside Nate saw that the area was very small. There were two large crates that had somehow managed to remain inside the craft during its chaotic decent. Crawling into the space he opened one of the crates and much to his surprise found something useful. Inside was a large tarpaulin which he reckoned would serve nicely as a blanket of sorts. The second crate held nothing of value. Nate wanted to get the crates out of the cramped space but did not want to break the barrier that the snow had formed any more than he had already. He knew that his biggest enemy now was cold. So he pushed the crates to the very back of the small space and tried to pile one on the other but his strength was now giving out and with only one working arm it was not going to be possible. Collapsing into a sitting position with his back against one of the crates and his feet curled up he pulled the tarp over him covering his body with the material. Then he took a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth. He had being doing this all along to try to stay hydrated as much as possible. As the tarp and the close quarters of the wrecked tail section heated his tired body pins and needles stung his feet. Although this was decidedly not pleasant at least it meant there was still circulation in his feet and frostbite had not set in. Making himself as comfortable as possible, Nate closed his eyes and from pure exhaustion slipped into unconsciousness.

When he awoke again he had no idea how long he had been out. The blizzard was in full swing now and the wind howled around his little haven. The entrance he had carved for himself was almost fully closed now, only allowing a small amount of cold air to blast into the little space. Nate was not sure if this was a good thing or not. The air was already very thick only being kept fresh by the inflow of air from the gap. After contemplating the matter for a short time he decided that even if he wanted to open the gap more he was not sure he could move. He could not feel his legs anymore but he put that down to the cramped position he had been forced to sit in and nothing else. He was warm and dry at least, if not comfortable, and decided that of the two, he wanted that more.

Lying there, unable to move his mind began to wonder. Now that he did not have to worry about anything else, he could do nothing about his injuries or his situation, he started to wonder why the plane had exploded in the first place. The Cessna was in good condition and fairly new. He wracked his brain trying to remember where the explosion had come from. It was not the engine because that would surely not have killed the pilot or destroyed the instrument…at least he did not think it would have. The engine had definitely gone but was that from a second explosion. Had it been an accident or had it been deliberate. If deliberate why? Who was the target; the pilot? Was it himself? These thoughts floated through his mind until again he lapsed into sleep.

Nate drifted in and out of consciousness. At one stage he realized that the blizzard had died down and the wind no longer buffeted the small tail section. Vaguely he thought that could mean that a search party would be out shortly. Eliot, Parker, Sophie and Hardison would be looking for him. His mind went back to the crash again. If it had been him they were after did that mean that the rest were also in danger? The thought scared him. He opened his eyes wide and put more snow into his mouth and rubbed some over his face. The cold substance caused a sharp intake of breath which in turn caused great pain. He had to stay awake he thought. He had to stay awake until they found him. He had to warn them, he had to tell them. He fought for what seemed like an eternity to keep his eyes open but eventually he could no longer and faded back into unconsciousness.

**Thanks again for all the reviews please keep them coming.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 11**

Eliot watched as Parker started off in the direction of where the tail section should be. He noted that without question and with a lot more urgency than they had shown in a while the others turned to follow. Before he set off after them he called Kevin on the hand radio held he had taken with him. He informed his friend of the turn of events. Eliot had always been one to cover all bases and was glad of that now, he asked the pilot to bring the stretcher and medical equipment that he had stashed in the Chopper before they had left. He also requested the thermal blankets and anything else Kevin thought he might need if they did indeed find Nate alive. He gave Kevin the direction they were going in and then set out after the other four. Catching up to them he told them that they would have to take it slow. If they were going to find the wreck then they would have to keep a sharp eye because it would probably be covered in snow and would be difficult to see. They all nodded in agreement and started walking at a much slower pace examining everything that could possibly be the wreck covered with snow.

The going was slow and Kevin caught up to the group easily dragging the litter along with all the other equipment Eliot had requested. After an hour of searching they still had no sign of the wreck or of a body. Sophie suddenly stopped and stared at a large heap of snow at the foot of a tree. She walked up the heap of snow which looked out of place and started scrapping the snow off the top of the heap. Before long she felt the cold metal of the tail section of the downed plane.

"Eliot…Eliot over here." She called out, now frantically scraping the snow off the object.

Eliot, Parker and Hardison moved quickly to her side and started helping her. Making their way around the object Eliot assessed where the entrance should be. Grabbing at the snow he eventually broke through the wall that it had created. Eliot felt a blast of hot stuffy air as it rushed out from the enclosed interior. Sticking his hand into the space he had made he pulled on the remaining portion of the wall causing it to collapse in a heap. A gasp from Sophie brought all their attention to the contents of the wreck. Nate was partially sitting, his back against a large crate. His legs were almost curled up under his body. He was covered in a tarpaulin. His eyes were closed and he showed no sign of life at all. Eliot moved into the cramped environment and reached out tentatively to Nate, placing his hand on Nate's neck he felt for a pulse. Letting out a sigh of relief and turning to Kevin to beckon him closer with the equipment he told the others that Nate was alive. His pulse was weak and he was barely breathing but he was alive.

"We have to get him out of here as soon as possible." Eliot told Kevin as he delivered the equipment. "He is not in good condition." Eliot continued meaningfully. "Can we make Anchorage?"

"Not sure, with the fuel it will be close and it will take a lot longer than getting to Kenai." Kevin replied.

"I don't think he is going to last much longer, he needs proper care and he isn't going to get it in Kenai. Can we take the chance?" Eliot asked quietly almost pleading with his friend to agree.

"Sure…I'll go get the Chopper ready and radio ahead to let them know we are coming." Kevin said.

Listening to Eliot's conversation with Kevin a sense of dread filled Sophie. Were they too late? After all of this were they going to loose Nate anyway?

**Really appreciating the reviews, please keep them coming.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Apologies for all the grammatical and other errors I have made. I try to keep them to the minimum but some still do creep in. Hope you are all still enjoying the story though.**

**Chapter 14**

Nate's breathing was shallow and laboured. His pulse was weak and thready. Eliot knew he had to get him out of there and to medical attention as soon as possible or the man was not going to make it. Calling Alec over to help, he maneuvered the unconscious man onto the stretcher taking as much care as he could. He noted that Nate's clothes were torn and blood stained. He did not however appear to have any broken bones or excessive bleeding. He had a gash on his face and his hair was matted with sweat and blood. Probably another cut on his scalp Eliot reasoned. Mentally he was going through all the possible injuries Nate could have sustained that were not visible to the naked eye and none of them appealed to him. During the entire operation of getting Nate out of the confined space and onto the stretcher he had not stirred at all. As he and Alec stood holding the stretcher Sophie made it to Nate's side.

"Oh Nate, please hold on, we have you now. Please Nate just hold on…please." She pleaded with the unconscious man.

Eliot motioned to her that they need to get going immediately. Before moving away from Nate she bent down and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips whispering that she loved him.

Eliot and Alec set a fast pace through the snow with Parker and Sophie bringing up the rear. They made quick time to the Chopper and as promised Kevin had it ready for lift off as soon as they had secured the stretcher onboard and all of them were seated. Sophie sat at the head of the stretcher stroking Nate's hair softly. Eliot sat opposite her, periodically checking on Nate's condition. Parker and Hardison sat at the foot of the stretcher. Apart from Sophie's quiet whispers to Nate there was complete silence as Kevin steered the Chopper to the hospital in Anchorage.

The flight seemed to take forever and Nate's breathing became more erratic, he seemed to be gasping for each breath. Eliot sat a little closer ready to do the breathing for him if it came to that. His heart rate had increased and was close to being tachycardic. They had to get to the hospital now or it was going to be too late.

"How much longer?" He called to Kevin.

"Coming into Anchorage now, just a few more minutes and we should be there." Kevin replied.

Eliot nodded in response and was about to request that he be patched through to the hospital in order to brief the emergency staff of the condition of their incoming patient when Sophie cried out that Nate was no longer breathing.

Eliot swung back round to the injured man and gave a quick assessment. His heart was now racing and he was not breathing at all. Eliot unclipped his harness and got on his knees next to Nate and, placing him in the correct position started to breath for him.

"Come on Nate don't do this man, don't you give up now." Eliot muttered between breaths.

Parker and Hardison both looked terrified. They could not watch him die, not now, not when they were so close to getting him the help he needed. Sophie watched as Eliot breathed life into Nate, then closing her eyes for she prayed, for the first time in as long as she can remember she begged God to let Nate live.

The helicopter was descending to the roof of the hospital when Nate's heart stopped beating and then all hell broke loose.

**Thanks for the reviews…really inspires me to carry on.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

As the Chopper touched down an army of doctors and nurses descended on it. Eliot continued resuscitation yelling at the doctors that Nate was not breathing and his heart had stopped. Sophie climbed out of the Chopper making room for the doctor to climb in and take a full briefing from Eliot while they transferred Nate onto a gurney. One of the young nurses climbed up onto the gurney taking over from Eliot by doing compressions on his chest while another one placed a breathing bag over his mouth. Once the group was set they rushed off into the hospital the doctor calling out instructions to the nurses and other attending medical staff. Sophie and the other three set off after the doctors running to keep up with the breakneck pace being set. They followed the group until they could no longer follow. Heavy double doors barred their way bringing them to a halt. Another young nurse came up to them and told them they could have a seat in the waiting room and that the doctor would update them as soon as he could. All the energy seemed to seep from Sophie and Eliot had to move swiftly to prevent the woman from collapsing to the floor.

"He can't die Eliot…" she sobbed unable to control her emotions any longer. "I don't know what I am going to do if he dies." She cried softly.

"It's ok Sophie; it's going to be ok." Eliot soothed the woman leading her to a seat in the waiting room.

"No…no it's not ok Eliot. When we thought he had died in the crash. When we were looking for his body, when WE had given up on HIM he was fighting. He was fighting to live and come back to us. WE gave up on HIM Eliot, if we had started looking for him sooner. If we had gotten to him earlier…Oh Eliot, if he dies…" Sophie looked up at the Hitter, "If he dies now, it is because WE failed HIM." She finished softly.

"Sophie you can't think like that…Nate is a fighter and he'll get through this." Eliot said her words burning in his mind.

God, Eliot thought, he should have known that Nate would not go down without a fight. He should have forced Kevin to take them out sooner than what they had gone. He should have…No Eliot thought as he shook his head trying to dispel the thought. No, they could not have done more. It would have been pointless going out earlier; they would not have found the crash site anyway, not in that weather. Eliot sat down next to Sophie and took her hand in his.

"Sophie." He said softly but she did not give him any response.

"Sophie, listen to me." Eliot said a little more firmly. Sophie turned her tear streaked face to him and sat upright.

"We could not have done more than what we did. Nate is a strong man and a stubborn sonofabitch, you know that. He will make it through this…" Eliot hesitated slightly then looking over her head at the two youngest members of their little family continued, "And if he doesn't then we need to be strong. For Parker and Hardison we need to be strong. It is what Nate would want and you know it." Eliot finished hoping he was not being too harsh. But he needed Sophie; he needed her to be there for Parker if this did not go well. He couldn't and Hardison, as much as he wanted too, would not be able. Sophie was the only one that could help her through if the worst happened. Sophie nodded her head slightly. She knew he was right. Sitting up she wiped her eyes and gave him a sad smile before standing and making her way over to Parker and Hardison.

"He will make it…he will." Sophie said approaching Parker and held out her hand to the blonde thief. Parker immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her down to sit next to her. Sophie smiled slightly and wrapped the young woman in her arms. Yes she loved Nate and it was going to break her if he died. But they loved him too and they were her family. She would be strong, for them, for Nate.

It had been six hours since they had arrived at the hospital. About an hour after they had taken him into the emergency room a nurse came out to tell them that they had stabilized Nate enough to get him into surgery. She had promised that the doctor would update them on his conditions as soon as they were finished. That was five hours ago. Hardison had gone to get the group some coffee, sent by Eliot because he was driving the Hitter crazy pacing up and down the waiting room. Parker lay with her head on Sophie's lap. Running her hands through Parkers hair Sophie thought about Nate and the last five years of her life with him and this makeshift family they had made. She thought about their early days, the day they met, the chases that had given her so much joy. She thought about that fateful day in Chicago when he had come to her and asked her to join his team for just that one job. She thought about the day in the graveyard when she had walked away from him, away from her family. Tears pricked her eyes again as she thought about that day. She thought about the kiss on the Falcon when he stood bleeding, bleeding to save his team, his family. She thought about the day when he had turned away from revenge in favour of a life with her and their family. All these memories flitted through her mind. Some of them brought the prickle of tears and some a sad smile. One thing that it did do was show her that the last five years of her life had been the best of her life. No matter what happened nobody could take those memories away from her.

Suddenly the doors opened and an exhausted looking young doctor walked through them.

"Nate Ford's family?" The doctor asked and then stepped towards them.

**OK I know I am evil but I have to end it here. The next chapter will be up soon though. Thanks again for the reviews you guys are great.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Nate Ford's family?" The doctor asked and then stepped towards them.

Dr. Gregory Hartford was an observant young man and even though exhausted he could see the concern and raw fear on the faces of the four individuals who faced him.

"Let me first assure you that Mr. Ford made it through the surgery. It was touch and go there for a while but he made it through." Hartford could see the relief flood over them at his words and smiled briefly.

"Mrs. Ford..." he said looking at Sophie, naturally assuming that she was his patients' wife. "Perhaps we should take a seat over here." Hartford said and walked over to the chairs and took a seat. Sophie followed suite not bothering to correct his incorrect assumption. Parker and Hardison took seats flanking her and Eliot stood behind her.

"As I said, your husband made it through the surgery but I am afraid his injuries are very severe." Hartford said quietly after they had taken their seats. "Mr. Ford is very lucky to be alive; in fact I would consider it a miracle that he survived. He has a long road of recovery ahead of him and…" Hartford hesitated, he hated this part, first giving the family good news and then taking away the momentary joy they were experiencing. He knew he had to do it. The fact was that his patients' chances of surviving were not good, less than fifty / fifty and the family had to be prepared for that. After taking a deep breath he forged on. "I am afraid that he may not survive. Do not get me wrong, he has a fighting chance and we will do everything in our power to get him through this but…" Hartford's words trailed off with the ominous implication that he did not think his patient was going make it.

Sophie just stared at the young doctor. Was he saying that Nate was dying? She shook her head slightly, no that could not be. What was he saying then?

"What are his injuries?" Eliot asked interrupting Sophie's thoughts.

Hartford looked up at the young man asking the question. He looked somehow dangerous and the he swallowed hard before answering the question.

"Mr. Ford sustained minor cuts and abrasions from flying glass; we removed a fair amount of shards from him. Although the cuts were minor some of the wounds were infected. He also sustained a Brachial Plexus Injury to his C5 and C6 nerves; this is commonly called Erb's Palsy." Seeing confusion on their faces he tried to explain it in simpler terms. "In other words Mr. Ford's left arm is paralyzed because the nerves have been damaged leading from his spinal cord to his shoulder and arm. Now we have not been able to do much about this injury. We will start intensive physiotherapy as soon as he is stronger and then reassess the situation in about three months. He also sustained crush injuries to his chest and abdomen. This is not unusual in accidents. The crush injury in his chest area caused the fracture of five of his ribs which in turn has resulted in a flail chest, which in turn caused his respiration to slow and ultimately cease. We have done what we can to repair the damage but he is on a ventilator to aid his breathing."

"He's not breathing on his own…?" Parker asked hesitantly.

"At the moment the machines are breathing for him to give him time to heal on his own." The doctor confirmed before continuing on. "The crush injury to his abdomen damaged his spleen, which we removed, and ruptured the intestine which in turn caused a small leak. We have repaired the rupture and placed a drainage tube in to make sure all excess fluids are drained out. The risks here are infection and we will be watching him carefully for any sign of this. Our biggest concern however is the head injury he sustained." Doctor Hartford took a deep breath before continuing, this was the hard part. "Mr. Ford sustained three blows to the head. The gash on his forehead and on the side of his skull we have cleaned and treated and they should cause no further problems. The blow he received to the back of his head however was quite severe. It caused a slow bleed on the brain."

"Oh God…" Sophie gasped.

"We have repaired the damage but I am afraid that Mr. Ford has slipped into a Coma. Now we assess the level of Coma on the Glasgow Coma Scale. The higher the number the lighter the Coma and the more likely a patient is likely to awaken from it; the highest being fifteen. The lower the number the more likely it is that the patient may never wake; the lowest being three. We have determined that Mr. Ford's coma is a seven on the scale. He is not responsive to verbal commands although he does respond to pain stimuli, the situation is not promising. I am afraid Mr. Ford could never wake from the coma." Harford finished seeing the all too familiar devastation on the faces of his patients' family as he gave them the news that their loved one may never come back to them. Hartford wanted to get everything out so before they had a chance to ask questions he continued on. "Mr. Ford could also have sustained some brain damage; however we will not be able to determine that until he awakes from the coma."

"But I don't understand, he walked away from the crash." Alec said slowly unable to process the fact that Nate may be alive but he also may never be Nate again. He may never come back to them.

"Yes, I believe he managed to walk away from the crash and to survive for four days until you found him. I cannot tell you how or why he was able to do that. All I can tell you is that Mr. Ford is obviously a fighter. He made it through the crash and the surgery and that in itself is a good sign. Mrs. Ford, in these cases survival is largely up to the patient himself and his will to live. Mr. Fords' will to live is very obviously strong and he is fighting very hard to come back to you all. We will do everything in our power to make that happen. For now, all we can do is wait and see. We will be reassessing his situation again in forty-eight hours." Hartford said standing up from his seat.

"I will have a nurse show you to his room as soon as we have moved him into ICU. Again Mrs. Ford, we will do everything we can for your husband."

"Thank you doctor…for everything." Sophie acknowledged him.

"He's right you know…Nate is a survivor. He will survive this too." Eliot said quietly sitting down next to Sophie and wrapping the woman in his arms as the shock of what the doctor had just said hit her.

**OK I know I am evil but I have to end it here. The next chapter will be up soon though. Thanks again for the reviews you guys are great.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

He was falling, disappearing into an abyss that he somehow knew he would never emerge from. He tried to stop the decent, tried to fight the pull of the dark hole before him, but he was losing. He was struggling to breath each gasp for precious air brought nothing but pain. He could not feel his body, he was numb. His mind told him he was dying and that he should just let go. He should just free-fall into that great abyss beyond the reach of the pain and suffering that was smothering him. His heart though told him he had to fight. He had to resist the urge to leave this all behind. He had to hold on until they found him. His heart was waning and his mind was winning and the black hole of death was beckoning.

Suddenly he felt a rush of cold air hit him. He was vaguely aware of the presence of people, his people. He wanted to say something, show them that he was alive. He felt a hand touch his neck and felt the breath of somebody on his face. Was this Eliot? This must be Eliot he thought. He wanted to reach out and touch him, to convince himself that this was real, but his body would not move. He could hear Eliot speaking and then pain enveloped him as he was moved, slowly and carefully even lovingly. Eventually the pain eased as he was laid on something hard and then strapped in. He felt a hand take his and heard her voice. His heart ached at the sadness in her voice. He wanted to tell her it was ok that he was alive. He felt her lips touch his, soft and cool. He heard her whispered

"I love you" and then he was moving. The feeling was surreal for him, as if he was floating. Pain flared each time they stumbled or shook the stretcher. He wanted to tell them to stop, to slow down; he wanted to scream with pain. But he could do nothing. His voice did not work. His body immobile, he fell again into the dark place trying desperately to shut out the pain that wracked his body.

He drifted back later, he was not sure how much later. He could hear the loud noise of…a helicopter he thought. Yes it must be a helicopter. They were getting him out of there. That was good. He felt the soft soothing touch of somebody as they stroked his hair. He knew instinctively this was Sophie. He could feel her gaze on him; he could sense her fear and sadness. He wanted to reach out again and touch her, hold her and reassure her he was going to be ok. Then an enormous pain pierced his chest, he found he could not breath, he struggled too, he wanted too, for her for them. He fought for precious air but then his lungs refused to work and he found himself drowning again, being pulled into that terrible abyss that lay ahead of him. The pain in his chest continued and he felt his heart would burst. Then he felt nothing, sensed nothing except regret before he fell headlong into the darkness.

**I know, I know… another short chapter but do not fear another one will be coming soon. Thanks for the reviews…keep them coming **


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

When he emerged again from the darkness it was to a place that was blissfully pain fee. He could feel something in his throat; it was hurting him as he tried to inhale a deep breath of air. Lifting his arm he grabbed weakly at the object. He was struggling for breath again and panic set in. His heartbeat increased and as he frantically tried to rid himself of the object. Then he heard a soothing voice telling him not to struggle, not to fight the object. The voice told him it was there to help him. He felt a soft hand take his and pull it away. It was her hand, her voice, she was here. He relaxed. Sophie would never let anything hurt him. He felt himself inhale and slowly the panic dissipated. He tried to open his eyes and look at her but they would not cooperate with him. He could feel her holding his hand and hear her soothing voice and for now, he decided, that was enough.

Sophie sat by his bedside, she had not left since they had been allowed into the room three days prior. Eliot, Parker and Hardison each sat in chairs scattered around the room. The doctor had tried to impose the rule of one visitor only, and only at certain times, but had given up after realizing he was fighting a losing battle. These people were not going to leave his patient alone, and he was not going to try to stop them anymore. Besides, he thought to himself, it could only help the man.

Suddenly Sophie felt Nate move, felt him squirm in his bed. She thought he was in pain but then saw his arm lift and his hand grab weakly for the breathing tube. She immediately started talking to him, telling him not to struggle, that it was helping him. She took his hand in hers and pulled it away from the respirator. Still talking softly to him she held on to his hand until he seemed to settle again. Once he was again still and his breathing and heartbeat had gone back to normal, she looked up at Eliot who had moved swiftly to Nate's bedside. He smiled and nodded to her. Parker and Hardison smiled too Parker squeezing Hardisons hand in joy. This must be a good sign; Nate was coming back to them.

A day after the incident with the breathing tube the doctor informed them that Nate was ready to be weaned from it. He believed his lungs had healed enough for him to breathe on his own. Over the next few hours the respirator was turned to lower and lower settings until it was barely functioning at all and Nate was for all intents and purposes breathing independently of the machine. The group was hustled out of the room by the doctor and nurses as they prepared to remove it entirely. The doctor also wanted to do some other tests to determine where Nate was with regards his other injuries. They reluctantly left but insisted that the blinds be left open and they stood by the window and watched the procedure. After the machine was removed from the room, the doctor also removed the drainage tube that had been placed in Nate's abdomen during surgery. He then checked his vital signs and inspected his injured arm. Finally he nodded to the nurses who let the impatient group of people back into the room.

"Well doctor, what is the verdict?" Sophie asked as she moved to take her place at Nate's side, placing her hand gently on his forehead.

"He is doing very well, better than expected actually." The doctor replied with a smile on his face. "Actually I am very surprised at the rate of his recovery. Usually in situations like this recover is much slower. The nurses here are calling him the 'Miracle Man'." The doctor said frankly. "He must have a lot to live for." He smiled again, told them he would be back in a few hours to check on the patient then left them alone with Nate.

"I told you he was going to be ok…" Parker said happily. It was the first time in days that the young woman had smiled and been her usual hyperactive self.

"Yes you did Parker." Sophie smiled down at Nate. It was good to see him without the tubes and pipes covering his face. She leant in and kissed him softly on the mouth, aware that the rest of them were watching and not caring one bit.

"Hey Sophie don't mind us…I mean sheash…" Hardison said playfully. For the first time in more than a weak he felt hopeful. He could sense the tension seeping out of the room. Nate was going to be ok. They were going to be ok.

Eliot said nothing. He looked down at Nate and said a silent prayer of thanks. Suddenly he felt tired. While they had all been worried about Nate, he had also been watching them. Every time Parker was out of the room for too long he would go looking for her to make sure she was ok. Every time Sophie wiped a silent tear away from her eyes he would move closer and assure her Nate would pull through. He watched as Hardison withdrew into himself, afraid to hope, afraid to not hope. Now he could relax a little. Nate was going to be fine; his family would be just fine. He sank into his chair and closed his eyes smiling contentedly to himself.

**Hope you enjoyed this one…even I am feeling relieved **


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Kevin shut the Chopper down and followed the others into the hospital. He got to the waiting room just after Nate had been taken into surgery.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked Eliot quietly.

"Yeah, could you get back to Kenai and get our stuff from the hotel. We'll be here for a while and we have nothing here."

"No problem. I'll be back as soon as possible." He turned to go then remembering something he turned back to Eliot. "The keys for the hired car, you want to give them to me and I'll drop it off before coming back." Eliot nodded and tossed the keys over.

"Thanks Kev…for everything." Eliot said quietly. Kevin nodded before leaving the group and heading off.

He went back to his Chopper and took off for the airport. He needed to refuel before heading off back to Kenai. Arriving at the airport he was met by three men.

"Mr. MacDougal?" the man asked as he approached Kevin.

"Yes." Kevin replied wearily.

'Mr. MacDougal, my name is Henry Price; this is Jeff Burns and Mark Millard. We are representatives of the FAA and have been sent here to investigate the crash of flight 20194 which went down near Kenai. We were informed that you were instrumental in locating the crash site and evacuating the one survivor. We would like to charter your helicopter to get us to the scene of the crash. We also have a few questions for you and the group of people who were with you when you discovered the wreckage." Price finished.

"Well, I am on my way back to Kenai now but have a few errands to run before I can take you up on that Charter offer. As for any questions, I am available to you whenever. The four others are at the hospital now with the survivor." Kevin said seeing an opportunity that he knew Eliot would want him to take. He would want to know the cause of the crash he was sure of that.

"Yes, how is the man…Nathan Ford, I think his name was?" Burns asked.

"Not good. They just took him into surgery but it would be a miracle if he made it, the state he was in." Kevin answered. He did not want these people bothering Eliot and the rest just now.

"Ok well our questions for them can wait. When are you leaving for Kenai?" Price asked.

"As soon as the bird is full, in about an hour I should be ready. But as I said, I have a few errands…"

"That's alright Mr. MacDougal, we will need to speak to the authorities in Kenai as well and we need to get set up. Let's say you give us a lift there and we can start out to the crash tomorrow?"

"Sounds good to me." Kevin agreed.

Once Kevin was inside the main building and had sorted out the arrangements for refueling of the Chopper he made a call to Eliot. He informed his friend of the developments and that he had agreed to assist the men. Eliot also thought it was a good idea and agreed to speak later when Kevin delivered their belongings. The thought that this had not been a mere accident had not even crossed Kevin's mind. But now that he thought about it, it was not usual for planes to just blow up in mid-air.

Five hours later, after delivering the men to Kenai and sorting out Eliot and the rests business with the hotel and the hire car company, Kevin walked into the hospital carrying the four small bags that belonged to them. He found them in the waiting room, there was still no word on Nate's condition and he could feel the tension emanating from all of them. On seeing him enter Eliot stood and met him, shaking his hand warmly.

"No news I take it?" Kevin asked ruefully.

"No…but that is a good sign." Eliot sighed. The fact that the doctor had not come out yet was frustrating yes, but Eliot also knew that meant Nate was still alive.

"I have to get back, taking those FAA guys out to the crash site tomorrow. I'll keep you informed." Kevin said as he placed the bags on the floor next to the chairs they were occupying.

"Thanks again Kev." Eliot said and shook the man's hand again before he left.

Eliot turned and took his seat beside Sophie again. His mind was racing. What if the crash had not been an accident? Eliot considered this and decided that he was not going to worry about that now. If it had not been an accident, well they would deal with that later. For now his focus had to be on the people around him and Nate. If it had not been an accident and somebody was after Nate, well they were not going to get to him here, not now anyway. Maybe it had not been Nate they were after, maybe it was the pilot. There were a lot of maybe's Eliot thought. He would get Hardison to do some research on the pilot later. He looked over at the Hacker. He looked lost, scared, no that was not true, he looked terrified. He sat holding onto Parker for dear life, and she in turn held on to him. Eliot sighed and took Sophie's hand. He hoped to God this was just an accident because otherwise…well that just did not bear thinking about now.

**Oh dear is there a twist in the tale…thanks to all of you for reviewing…really appreciated.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Nate slowly emerged from the twilight of awake and asleep. The first thing he was aware of was the hand that held his, it was soft and warm. He squeezed it gently just to make sure it was there. He had not opened his eyes yet and he listened to the beeping of the machine which seemed too loud. Then breaking through that noise he heard a soft voice asking him to open his eyes. He felt their presence and tried to open his eyes for them. His eyes fluttered as he struggled to answer her urgent request. Finally he opened his eyes fully. His efforts were rewarded by what he thought was the sweetest sight he had ever seen. Sophie was leaning over him calling his name and telling him to open his eyes for her. Her beautiful face was framed by her long black hair and her big wonderful brown eyes swam in a sea of unshed tears as she said his name over and over again.

It had been two days since they had taken him off the ventilator. Their hopes had soared that day but now they were again beginning to doubt that he would ever truly return to them. The doctor had told them that his condition with regards the coma had not changed in the last two days. He had tried to make them understand that Nate could wake today or next week, next month or he may never wake. He had just left the room and the group had dejectedly returned to their vigil. Parker and Hardison sat together, their chairs touching. Eliot stood at the door, his eyes glued to the man in the bed, his thoughts consumed with the thought that Nate would never come out of the coma. How was he going to cope, how were they. Sophie sat with his hand in hers. She sat next to him silently willing him to awaken. He knew they needed him, he had too. That was why he had fought so hard to live. Surely he would not give up now, not when they were at the final hurdle.

She could not tell how long she had been sitting like that lost in thought when she suddenly sat up. He had squeezed her hand, she was sure of it. She stood and leaned over him, her face right before his and spoke his name softly.

"Nate, Nate wake up Nate." She pleaded as she saw his eyelids flutter.

The others saw Sophie suddenly stand and lean over Nate and all of them moved swiftly to his bedside. She had not let go of his hand and was urgently telling him he needed to open his eyes.

Suddenly Sophie found herself staring into the perfect blue pools of Nate's open eyes.

"That's it Nate, open your eyes for me…" She said softly, tears of relief starting to build in her own.

Parker looked down at Nate and smiled widely. "See I told you he was just sleeping and he would wake up soon." Parker said happily. "I knew you would never leave us." She said to Nate.

"Nate man…you scared the hell out of us man…don't you ever do that again." Hardison added.

Eliot said nothing just looked at the man. Then at the two youngest members of the team, then back to the man lying in the bed. He smiled then, a slow smile that came from his eyes. _Thank God_ he thought to himself.

Nate only had eyes for Sophie, he wanted to reach up and wipe the tear that had slipped down her cheek. He tried to lift his arms but to no avail. Sophie leant in again and ran a hand over his forehead. She smiled at him, a beautiful tearful smile that expressed everything she felt. She loved this man, loved him more than she had ever loved anything else in her life.

Nate turned his head slightly to look at the other members of his team, his family. He could feel the darkness pulling him back. He was so tired, but he did not want to leave them again. He fought the urge to close his eyes and sleep.

"Nate…it's ok, you can sleep." Sophie said seeing the effort he was making. "Sleep my love; we will be here when you wake up. Everything is going to be alright." Sophie crooned as she ran her hand through his hair. She leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss. Nate's eyes fell closed but a small smile crossed his face as he accepted the darkness. He had no fear of it now, he knew he was going to wake up again and they would all be there, she would be there, and everything was going to be ok.

As Eliot watched Nate drifted back to sleep with Sophie soothing him with voice and hand. He felt his cellphone vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out he looked at it and his face clouded over again.

"Kevin…" Eliot answered.

"Eliot. It was not an accident." Kevin said without waiting for the question he knew was going to be asked.

Eliot was silent then he turned and walked out the room not wanting to disturb the scene.

"Ok Kev…tell me..." He said as he stepped out of the room.

**Hope you still enjoying the story…thanks for the reviews…please keep them coming. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Kevin left the hospital and headed straight for the airport. It was late and he needed to get back to Kenai. He thought about Eliot and the rest of the crew he had got to know over the last few days. His assessment of Nate was spot on. Not only did he mean a lot to those four people, he must be one hell of a guy. I mean, to survive out there for three days, to have walked away from that crash, if he had not witnessed it he would not have believed it possible. He had known Eliot for a long time and in all those years he had never seen fear in the man's face. That was until he had thought Nathan Ford was going to die. That said a lot in itself. He thought about all of this as he flew his helicopter back to the small town. He hoped this was a simple accident. He hoped so because if it wasn't, and whoever had done it was after Nate. Well, it was not going to be pretty if he knew Eliot at all.

The next morning at around nine he lifted off once again. He headed out towards the crash site with his three passengers. He got to the landing site and set the bird down. Unloading all the equipment they had brought with them they started the five hundred meter walk to the wreckage. Luckily the weather had held and no further snow had fallen. The wreckage was as they had found it the first time and the three men got to work immediately. After they had inspected the main wreckage they asked Kevin to lead them to the other site. The tail section they had found Nate in. By the time they had finished with their preliminary inspections it was getting late.

"Kevin, I think we can make our way back now." Henry Price said after making their way back from the tail section wreckage.

"Fine, will we be returning tomorrow?" Kevin had not been able to determine what the outcome of the preliminary was, he needed to know.

"No, we have what we need for now. We will need to organize to have the main wreckage shipped back to Anchorage." Price said.

"Why? That's not usual is it?" Kevin asked his voice showing none of the apprehension he felt.

"No, not if the crash was an accident, but we don't think this was. There is evidence that there could have been an incendiary devise placed in the cockpit which caused the explosion." Price responded, then, remembering who he was speaking to, he added that Kevin should not speak to the media or anybody else about that.

Kevin agreed and the four men climbed back into the helicopter and Kevin set off for Kenai once again.

Once they had landed the three FAA men thanked Kevin for his assistance and asked him if he would be available to ferry them back to Anchorage in the morning. They needed to speak to the four people who had hired them to search for Nate. Kevin agreed and they said their goodbyes.

Kevin watched the three men walk away then took his cellphone out. The phone rang a few times before he heard Eliot's voice.

"Eliot. It was not an accident." Kevin could almost hear Eliot's intake of breath as he said the words. There was a short silence and then Eliot asked him to tell the story.

"I don't know much Eliot; just that the FAA guys think it was some kind of explosive in the cockpit. They want me to bring them to Anchorage tomorrow so that they can talk to you guys. They are also having the wreckage shipped back to Anchorage for further inspection." Kevin said as succinctly as possible.

"Thanks Kev…we'll be ready for them." Eliot said softly.

"How is Nate doing?"

"He came out the coma just now. It looks like he is going to be just fine." Eliot replied the relief evident in his voice.

"That's great pal. Take care, if these guys were after Nate, they may not have given up." Kevin said concern for his friend lacing his tone.

"Yeah well let them come." Eliot said his voice turning deadly.

Eliot closed his phone, took a deep breath then walked back into the room to give the team the bad news.

**You guys are great with the reviews, thank you so very much. Keep them coming.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Eliot stepped back into the room. Parker and Hardison were still standing at Nate's bed. Parker was speaking non-stop about what they were going to do when Nate was better and how she had known that he would never leave them. Hardison just smiled at her and then at the sleeping man in the bed. Sophie sat beside his bed. She smiled to herself as she listened to Parkers babbling wondering if Nate had any idea how much he actually meant to all of them. Eliot looked at the three of them and knew that he had to take this brief sense of euphoria away from them. Nate could be in danger and so could they.

"Guys, we need to talk." Eliot said as he drew the blinds in Nate's room closing out the outside.

Sophie, Hardison and Parker's heads all snapped up to look at him with apprehension. They knew that voice. It was the voice he only used when a con was going wrong and he felt that danger lurked.

"Eliot?" Sophie questioned hesitantly as she watched Eliot close the blinds then walk back towards the bed.

"The crash was no accident. Nate could be in danger and so could we." Eliot informed them taking his place at the foot of Nate's bed.

"What?" Sophie said holding onto Nate's hand a little tighter. "You mean they were after Nate?" She said the fear in her voice evident.

"We don't know that…" Eliot replied hesitantly. "They could have been after the pilot." He said in a voice that made them think he did not believe it. "Hardison I need you to get all the information you can on the pilot. Who he was, who his clients were, where he…"

"Yeah I get it." Hardison interrupted him his laptop already out and his hands flying over the keyboard.

"Kevin will be here in the morning, he will give us a brief then on what the FAA findings are so far." Eliot said to Sophie's unasked question of where he had got his information from. "For now all we can do is stay here and make sure that Nate is safe." Eliot finished.

An uneasy silence settled on the room again. Sophie looked down at the sleeping man. Who could be after him? Who was she kidding she thought. He had made so many enemies, they all had. Their job was to make enemies of a lot of rich powerful people, and they did their job well. But Nate, well he was the one they always focused on. Damn him and always having to be there when the bad guy was taken down. He had to gloat; he had to see them defeated. He was the face their marks all put to their team. Not Eliot, not Parker or Hardison, no, they saw him. They blamed him. Well nothing else was going to happen to Nate. They would only get to him by going through them, all of them, and that was not going to happen. For now though Eliot was right. Until they had more information they could do nothing.

Tension had once again filled the room. Eliot took a position near the door. Nobody was entering now, not without Eliot first checking them out. Hardison worked furiously on his laptop getting any and all information they would need. Parker sat quietly beside him her mind consumed with the fact that the man in the bed could still be in danger. For now she knew she could do nothing. The fact that she could also be did not even feature in her mind. Sophie remained beside Nate her face showing the strain of the last week. Gently she stroked the hand in hers vowing that nothing would happen to him, not if she had anything to say about it.

**Thanks again for the reviews…they keep me inspired to continue with the story. Please keep them coming.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 22**

Nate came back into consciousness slowly. He lay listening to the beeping of the machine and the soft mumbling of people. He recognized their voices, it was his team. As he lay there with his eyes closed his mind tried to sort out what had happened. He remembered an explosion on the plane. He remembered the pilot was killed immediately and that he had tried to land the plane. He did not remember getting out of the plane. He did remember getting to the tail section, but after that his mind was a blank. He had no idea how long it had been since the crash. How long he had been in the hospital. He could feel some pain in his arm and a slight headache was growing. Otherwise he felt alright all things considered. He felt the soft warm hand holding his and knew it belonged to Sophie. He pictured her leaning over him, whispering his name over and over again. Suddenly he wanted to see her again. To confirm she was there, that they were all there. He opened his eyes slowly. The room was dimly lit and his eyes adjusted quickly. His gaze settled on Sophie who lay with her head on the bed, his hand tucked tightly into hers. He flicked his eyes over to his left where he saw Hardison sitting bent low in his chair focused on his computer. Parker sat beside him her eyes closed as she slept. He looked toward the door where his eyes were met by a pair of eyes as blue as his own. Eliot nodded briefly to him, acknowledging the fact that Nate was awake. Nate nodded almost imperceptibly in return. The slight movement however woke the woman sitting beside him.

"Welcome back Nate…" She said softly then rose and gave him the sweetest kiss he had ever had. It was soft and warm and full of love. He found himself wanting to take her in his arms and hold on to her and never let her go.

Hardison looked up from his computer. He stood and walked over to the bed closely followed by Parker who was immediately awake and alert. Nate smiled as he looked at the group gathered around his bed.

"Hi…" He managed to get out. His throat was sore and dry and the word came out as a croak more than anything. Parker immediately grabbed the glass of water which stood by his bedside and offered him some through a straw. He lifted his head and took a sip. Laying back he gave her a smile of thanks. Sophie smiled at the young woman then looked back down at Nate.

"You gave us one hellova fright Nate. We thought…we thought that you were…" Even now she could not bring herself to say the words. She squeezed his hand a little tighter as tears of relief filled her eyes and then brimmed over.

Nate reached up and wiped away the tears from her cheeks then kissed her hand. "But I didn't, I'm still here Sophie." He said hoarsely.

"Yes you are…yes you are." She said and smiled down at him sweetly.

"Yeah man but that was closer than we ever need it to be, that's all I'm saying." Hardison said. "I mean man; I…we were scared man…don't ever do that again ok." He continued a slight quiver in his voice. He reached out and placed his hand on Nate's arm. "Ok…"

"I promise." Nate confirmed watching as Parker put her arms around the young man.

"And that Nate; was the last time you go see a client on your own." Eliot said quietly. "It is also the last time you use a charter flight without having Hardison check out the operation thoroughly." He continued his voice quiet yet stern.

Nate eyed his Hitter. Something was wrong. He knew his Hitter and something was definitely not right. That tone was the tone he used when he was taking care of business; when he was taking care of his team in a dangerous situation. He cast his eyes to Sophie then the other two. They were nodding their agreement. Nate decided he was missing something. Then he had it. The crash was not an accident. He cast his mind back trying to remember the first explosion. It was in the cockpit. What could have exploded in the cockpit by accident…

"Did you get that Nate?" Eliot said interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah I got it." Nate replied. "The crash was no accident right?" He added trying to sit up but a sharp pain in his stomach forced him back onto the pillows immediately with a low moan. He closed his eyes against the pain and tried to slow his breathing.

"Nate…Nate are you ok?" Sophie said her voice full of concern.

"Yeah, yeah, just a little sore…" Nate gritted out squeezing her hand tightly.

"Well that will teach you…you were in an airplane crash Nate, you were badly hurt and you need to take it easy." Sophie said as she ran her hand over his forehead.

"Eliot?" Nate said as the pain subsided and he opened his eyes to look at his friend.

"No, it was not an accident." Eliot confirmed.

Shit Nate thought. If it was not an accident then somebody wanted him dead. Maybe not, he thought, maybe it was the pilot they wanted dead. He knew little to nothing about the man except his name. He had been meaning to catch a commercial flight out, but because his meeting had run late with the client, he had missed it. He did not want to wait until the next day to get one so he contacted the airport to find out about chartered flights back to Boston. He had been referred to Carlos Dalton. Suddenly Nate felt a chill run down his spine. If it had been him they were after, did that mean they could be after his team as well.

"We need…" Nate began saying before being interrupted by Sophie.

"Don't Nate. Eliot has it under control for now. You need to rest. We are all here and Eliot knows what to do." Sophie said. She could see that his energy was being sapped by this new piece of information. He had just woken from a coma. He had lost a lot of blood and had other serious injuries. He needed to rest. They could take care of him.

Nate looked at her. He needed information. He needed to think. He also knew that Sophie was right. He was tired, just this short time had taken a lot out of him. His arm was aching and the headache he had awoken with was now more than just a dull pain.

"Nate I have everything under control for now. Hardison is checking out the pilot and his business. I also have a friend who is getting information form the FAA as to the nature of the explosive. There is nothing else to do for now man. You need to rest." Eliot said to his friend. "Nothing is going to happen tonight, not here."

Nate just nodded and closed his eyes. He slowly drifted back into a deep sleep again.

**Well now it is getting interesting isn't it…I know I keep saying it but thanks for all the reviews they really mean a lot.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

It was nine am and the team stood silently outside of Nate's room. Dr. Hartford having insisted he needed to do a full examination of the patient in private. Nate had asked them to leave before any arguments could ensue. It had been nearly half an hour now and the door remained closed and the blinds drawn. Eliot took his position in front of the door guarding it. Sophie and Hardison stood a little to the left of him talking quietly to each other. Parker kept putting her face against the window trying to see what was happening inside.

Suddenly the door opened and Dr. Hartford signaled them to enter.

"Mrs. Ford, your husband is one lucky and determined man. The fact that he is sitting here awake is nothing less than a miracle. Now there are a few things that I have concerns about." Hartford said seriously.

Sophie moved to Nate and took his hand again; it seemed she had done nothing else but hold his hand since she they had got him back. She had noticed that he was the one to reach for her hand too. Sophie looked up at the doctor and waited for him to continue. The others moved to stand grouped at the other side of Nate's bed. Dr. Hartford stood at the foot of the bed and gave them his assessment of Nate's condition.

"Firstly, he is experiencing headaches and I am going to schedule a Scan so that we can determine the cause. With the head injury I do not want to take a chance that the brain is swelling slightly or that there could still be a slow bleed. The injury to his arm has started to improve, but as I explained to Nate, as the nerves heal there will be an increase in pain levels, and these will keep increasing for a short while as the nerves repair themselves. The only thing we can do for this is to manage the pain. We will also immobilize the arm. He will not have the use of the arm for about a month or two. I have also recommended intensive physiotherapy to start immediately. The ribs are healing nicely and his lungs are sounding good. The injuries to his intestines also are healing well, although again there is a fair amount of pain it is normal, we will continue to keep an eye on any possible infection though. I have asked him to report any excessive pain and or swelling of the abdomen, this could indicate infection and we will have to deal with it immediately. Mr. Ford does not seem to have any residual damage to his brain from the initial bleed. I would ask however that if any of you notice that his motor skills slow or his speech slurs you let me know immediately. This could be an indication that there could be a problem. We will also do period assessments for this. All in all though I believe, if there are no further complications, he should be ready to be discharged in about two weeks." Hartford finished.

"Two weeks…" Parker repeated. Two weeks more in this little room, she was going to go mad.

"We will be moving Nate to a private suite for his recovery. That should make it easier on all of you. Now I know that none of you have left the hospital for the last week. I suggest that you do go home, or to your hotel, and also get some rest. The worst is over now and time and rest are the only things that Nate needs to recover completely. I assure you that he is in good hands here."

"Thank you Doctor." Eliot said speaking for all of them.

Hartford nodded and then left the room with Eliot hard on his heels.

"Doctor Hartford can I have a word please." Eliot asked as they exited the room.

"Eliot, yes what is it that I can do for you?" Hartford asked.

"You are aware that Nate was in an airplane crash, you may not be aware that the crash was not an accident." Eliot started. "Nate could still be in danger from whoever tried to destroy the plane." Eliot said meaningfully.

"Oh." Hartford said taking in the information and a look of concern coming across his face. "Do the police have this information?" Hartford asked.

"The FAA is aware of the fact. Dr. Hartford we will need to take precautions to ensure Nate's safety here in the hospital, especially after he is moved out of ICU." Eliot said quietly and before Hartford could answer him he continued. "Firstly there will always be somebody with Nate in the room…even during examinations. Second, I will need a list of all personnel who will be responsible for Nate's care during his stay here. One of us will also accompany Nate on all trips to x-ray or for scans or any other form of treatment…" Hartford made as if to object but Eliot held his hand up to stop him. "I am sorry Doctor but that is not negotiable. We almost lost him once and it is not going to happen again. Now you have been very good to us and we do not want to cause any problems, but I will not take any chances with Nate's life." Hartford looked into the young mans' eyes and saw there that nothing he could say would change his mind. Nothing was going to stop Eliot, or the other three people he had left in the room with Nate, from protecting the injured man. He thought briefly about it and then decided that trying to stop Eliot from taking the precautions he insisted upon was futile, and anyway it would not really be much of a problem to his staff.

"Very well, I will inform the staff of the situation and accommodate your requests." Hartford said.

"Thanks Doctor, we will try not to get in anybody's way." Eliot smiled.

Eliot watched the doctor walk away; then turned and reentered Nate's room. He found the scene much the same as it had been through the long days they had held vigil here. Hardison was in his chair working on his computer with Parker at his side and Nate and Sophie were talking quietly as Sophie ran her hand over his. He sighed deeply and closed the door. There was nothing to do now except wait for Kevin to come and make his report. After that, well, depending on what Kev had to say, they would make further plans.

**Do you think they were after Nate? If so who are they? Next chapter coming soon Thanks for the reviews – I really, really, really appreciate them.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

About an hour later Kevin arrived at the hospital. Eliot introduced him to Nate, who thanked him for his part in his rescue. The room then fell silent as they waited for Kevin to give them details of the crash and what caused it.

"Well, nothing new yet I am sorry to say. The FAA guys are sure that the initial explosion was not accidental. They have arranged that the wreck gets transported back here. That will be happening tomorrow. We went back to the wreck and retrieved the body of the pilot this morning before coming here. It is now with the state coroner for examination. It looks like it was a small device placed in the cockpit. It was placed in such a way that the pilot would be incapacitated if not killed by the initial explosion. But it was not large enough to bring the plane down."

"If you are going to plant a bomb, why not put one in big enough to finish the for sure?" Alec asked.

"That's a good question. Maybe they thought it would. We would need to know exactly where it was placed." Eliot said.

"Well you will have to wait for the investigation first." Kevin said.

"No, we will have to do our own investigation." Eliot replied. "I need to get to the wreck." He said looking to Nate for confirmation.

Nate lay back in his bed. He was deep in thought. If they were after the pilot then the job was done with the initial explosion and the reason they had not blown the plane out of the sky was to try to pass it off as an accident. If they were after him then, well whoever it was probably thought that with the pilot dead, the plane would crash and Nate would be dead anyway. But why would they take the chance that he could land the plane? The explosion had taken out all the instrumentation though which in effect incapacitated the plane. The area they were flying over at the time of the explosion did not lend itself to safe landings. Actually he was not sure how he had managed to get the plane down in the first place.

"Nate…what are you thinking?" Sophie asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Mmm…" Nate said as Sophie interrupted his thoughts. "Oh, well I'm thinking that Eliot is right, we need to do a little investigation of our own. We need to get Eliot to the wreck."

"Well that should not be too difficult." Kevin said. "I am going to lead the recovery party on request of the FAA. I could make sure Eliot has access."

"We will also need access to the coroner's report regarding the pilot." Nate said

"Why? We know died in the explosion, what else could he possibly tell us?" Alec asked.

"I don't know Hardison but I have a feeling we will be interested in the outcome of the autopsy." Nate said.

"Nate, is there something you're not telling us?" Eliot asked watching the expression on his friends face.

"No Eliot, just something I think I remember. The pilot was…well I think he was unconscious before the explosion. My memory could be playing tricks on me but I would like to confirm it."

"If he was out before the crash, if he had been incapacitated before the explosion…why bother with planting a bomb? I mean, if you took out the pilot in another way and the plane crashed, no suspicion, no investigation. No Nate you must be wrong, I mean it just doesn't make sense." Kevin said mulling over the possibility.

"You are right Kevin, but…" Nate said still, wracking his brain trying to remember what exactly had happened up there just before the explosion and subsequent crash.

"But we might as well make sure right. I mean if the pilot was already incapacitated in some way then we need to know because that would change the game." Eliot said quietly not liking the scenario's he was coming up with for a reason for it.

"How does that change anything?" Parker asked.

"Because Parker…" Eliot said as he looked directly at Nate. "It could mean that they had wanted the plane incapacitated but not brought down. They wanted the pilot incapacitated so that he could not safely put the plane down. That means that…"

"They were after me." Nate finished for him. Seeing the confusion on all their faces except Eliot's he tried to explain. "The explosion was not large enough to hurt anybody else in the plane, just big enough to take out all the instrumentation. A good pilot can fly the plane blind and land it safely. Take the pilot out of the equation and there is no hope of landing the plane safely and in the area we were in, well survival is against the odds. There could be a myriad of reasons for any of this, but if the pilot had already been incapacitated somehow…"

"Then there would be no logical reason for the explosion." Sophie completed the thought.

"That also means that this was very personal." Eliot said his eyes still fixed on Nate.

"Why?" Hardison asked confusion registering on his face as he tried to follow Eliot's reasoning.

"Because Hardison, if this speculation is right then he wanted the passenger, namely me, to see death coming and not be able to do anything about it." Nate stated.

"Oh my God Nate…they wanted you to suffer, mentally and physically." Sophie gasped out.

"Yeah, well this is all just speculation." Nate said softly seeing the distress on Sophie's face. "The FAA could be wrong; the explosion could have been an accident. I could be wrong in what I remember. This could simply have been an accident." Nate said trying to play down the terrible implications of their speculation.

"But if it is not. If you are right about the pilot and the explosion and the reason for it, then whoever they are, they are not going to stop now. This must have taken a lot of planning." Sophie said softly. "They are going to come after you again Nate."

"Ok, well let's just find out then." Parker said. "Eliot gets to look at the wreck and I can go and steal an autopsy report."

"The one thing I don't understand man, is who knew you were going to be on that flight. I mean it was last minute that you took it." Hardison said thinking about everything that had been said. If this whoever it was; was after Nate how the hell had he known Nate would be on the plane in the first place? Sophie was right, this had taken planning and he just could not understand how.

"That's a great question Hardison." Eliot said. He had not even thought about that.

"Nate, what do you know about the client you came to see?"

Nate looked at Eliot and then shook his head slightly. The client had contacted him a few days ago. He had lost his son due to a doctors' negligence…Oh shit Nate suddenly thought. He had been set up. He had been played. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, which only reminded him of his broken ribs as he grimaced in pain.

"Nate?" Sophie asked in alarm.

"His name is Stephenson. Jeffery Stephenson. His son Grahame died a week ago after an allergic reaction that was not properly treated by the doctor. Or that is what he told me." Nate rubbed his forehead shaking his head slightly. "Hardison you need to do some research on him, check out his story." Nate said to his Hacker. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was not going to like what Hardison found.

"Speaking of which Hardison, what did you find out about our pilot?" Eliot asked the Hacker.

"Richard Channing. He started his charter business ten years ago. He was married with two kids. His financials are good, no heavy payments received recently. Most of his jobs are local, ferrying goods and people from to mines, fishing villages and places like Kenai. No criminal record. The man is clean. Company is also clean." Hardison answered.

Nate stared at his Hacker. Hardison was very thorough when doing this kind of thing he knew that. He would have been extra careful with his investigations this time considering the situation. He knew now without a doubt that this was meant for him, he was the target. He could see that the others had come to the same conclusion.

Nate closed his eyes again, he was tired. This had been a long morning and he was exhausted. The headache he had been nursing all morning was becoming worse and his arm was also aching. He felt his strength waning and he felt fear grip his heart. It was happening again, Latimer and Dubenich was happing all over again.

"I think that is enough for now." Sophie said watching Nate closely. She was worried about him. It had only been a few days since he had emerged from his coma. He was still in pain, even though he did not admit it. He looked tired and vulnerable to her and her heart ached for him. She was also afraid. They were after Nate and they wanted him to suffer. Well whoever they were she thought they were not going to succeed. His team would make sure of that.

Eliot had also been watching Nate and had seen the energy being leached from him by the long morning and all the revelations coming to the fore. He knew Nate was still weak and probably in a lot of pain. The man looked exhausted and pale. The last thing he needed now was this. Eliot shook his head sadly. He looked at Sophie who just nodded her head in reply to his silent question.

"Parker, Hardison you are both with me. Kev…" Eliot said as he led them out the door closing it softly behind him.

**I wonder who it is that is after Nate…Thanks carebear818, stella and Sphinx and all the rest of you guys for your kind words and encouragement. It is really appreciated.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Nate spent the majority of the rest of the day sleeping. He had been exhausted from the developments that morning and although he would never admit it, he was not sure he was up to dealing with all of this. His sleep was fitful, marred with images of explosions, guns and death.

Sophie remained in her position by his side. The others had all left to get started on their different assignments. Eliot had accompanied Kevin to the crash site with the retrieval crew. Parker and Hardison had set off for the state coroners' office. Sophie stayed with Nate. Before leaving all of them had been given their earbuds by Hardison. Eliot instructed them all to keep them in so as to be contactable at all times. Eliot did not like leaving Sophie alone with Nate. It was not that he did not trust that she would do everything in her power to protect him; no Eliot knew Sophie would die protecting Nate. It was merely that he was worried that she would not be able, to and that she herself would be in danger should whoever this was decide to strike while they were away. Before leaving, he drew Sophie aside and gave her a weapon.

"I don't like them either Sophie…" Eliot said as he saw the expression on her face as he handed her the gun. "But if you are faced with multiple assailants bent on getting Nate, charm is not going to stop them and I won't be able to get to you while we are away."

Sophie merely looked at Eliot for a short while then nodded and put the gun in her bag. She knew how to use a gun. Hell everybody knew she had shot Nate those many years ago in Paris. She knew that she could kill for him, to protect him she would die for him.

It had been a few hours now that Sophie was left alone in the hospital. She started to understand Nate's dislike for them. She couldn't image what torments he must have gone through with Sam in hospitals. It was bad enough keeping vigil over a man you knew was going to be alright. You knew that he would walk out of the place in a few weeks, if not completely healed then well on his way to being so. Nate had had to watch his son die. He had to sit by his son's bed knowing that he would never leave the hospital alive. She shivered slightly at the thought and reached out to take his hand again.

A short while later the nurse came into the room with a package. It had been delivered to the front desk and was addressed to Nathan Ford. Sophie thanked the nurse and took the package. Eliot had immediately been on coms telling her not to open it. Sophie brought the box up to her ear but heard no sounds emanating from it. Hardison chipped in to say that that could merely mean that there was no timer, that the trigger was something else, like when you opened the box. Eliot told Parker and Hardison to get back to the hospital immediately and said that he was on his way back from the crash scene and would be there within the next hour or so. He told Sophie not to do anything with the package until he arrived.

Parker and Hardison arrived back at the hospital twenty minutes later. They walked into the room and Hardison immediately asked to see the package. Sophie had put it in bathroom. Hardison nodded to her and taking a small device with him he entered the bathroom with Parker close behind him. He approached the package which Sophie had put in the bathtub and scanned over it with the device he had. Parker watched curiously.

"What is that thing?" She asked him as he scanned the package again.

"It detects explosive residues; it will tell me if there are any substances present that would indicate an explosive device." Hardison said without looking up from his task.

"Oh, great, and is there?" Parker said casually.

"Not according to this." Hardison said standing up and waving the device at her.

Leaving the bathroom Hardison closed the door then moved to the side of Nate's bed.

"He's been asleep since you guys left." Sophie said quietly. "I think this is really too much for him to handle. I mean, he just survived something he probably shouldn't have, only to be confronted with the possibility that the whole thing is not over." Sophie's voice shook with emotion. She was scared not only for Nate but for all of them. She was not unused to being chased and hunted, none of them were. This was different though. Somebody was out to kill Nate, not just kill him but make him suffer as well. They all knew their work was dangerous and that they had made enemies, but this, so soon after the last time…it was not right.

Eliot appeared about an hour after Hardison and Parker. Sophie told him where she had put the package and Hardison confirmed that he had found no indications that it was a bomb or explosive of any kind. Eliot nodded to them and entered the bathroom alone. Picking the package up carefully he undid the ribbon that held the lid on. Taking a deep breath he lifted the lid slightly. No explosion, he thought as he released the breath he did not even realize he had been holding. Lifting the lid off the package he stared at its contents. Eliot took out the small card that was attached to the contents and read it slowly. Anger and concern registered on his face as he read the message meant for Nate.

**What was in the package? What did the note say? Next chapter will be up soon.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

It was late when Nate said his goodbyes to Jeffery Stephenson telling him that they will do everything they can to get justice for him and his son. He had taken longer talking to the man than he expected and had missed his flight. The next one out was only the following afternoon and he did not want to wait that long. Stephenson suggested he call Richard Channing. He ran his own charter airline and would probably be able to get Nate home a lot sooner. Nate thanked him for the information, reassured him again that he and his team would be in contact with him again soon and then took his leave. Jeffery smiled his thanks and watched Nate leave. As soon as he was out of sight, Stephenson took out his phone and made a call.

"Everything is in place sir." Stephenson said to the person on the other end of the phone. "I directed him to Channing; he will be flying out with him first thing in the morning." Stephenson listened to the further instructions from his employer, agreed that he would be able to execute the instructions then hung up. Leaving his house he set off for the airfield.

Nate arrived at the airfield at 7am the next morning. He had spoken to the team and told them that he would be flying charter instead of the flight that Hardison had booked him. Nate told them to meet him at his apartment at about 11am and they would discuss their new case. He then parked his rented car and walked out to meet his pilot. Richard Channing was a tall, well set man with jovial features which made Nate think he spent his life smiling. After the introductions, Channing told Nate that they would be making a stop in Kenai. A client had asked if he would deliver some goods to the trading store there, and seeing as it was only a small detour, he asked if Nate would mind the slight delay. Nate agreed it would not be a problem and after checks had been done Channing was given clearance to lift off.

The flight was going smoothly and although the weather was closing in a bit Channing assured Nate that it would not be a problem. Suddenly Channing started to spasm as if he were having a fit; he grabbed his stomach and bent over the controls. Nate immediately noticed the problem and was in the process of leaning over to see what the problem was when an explosion rocked the tiny cockpit. Nate was thrown back into his seat with the force of the blast. When he was able to finally get to Channing he saw that the man was dead. The blast had thrown debris into his face and head as he had been leaning down over the controls at the time. Nate wasted no time in grabbing the controls as the plane took a sudden nose dive. He looked at the instrument panel and saw that nothing was functioning. Panic hit him but he willed himself to calm down. Taking the radio he sent out a May Day, he was not sure if the radio was transmitting but it couldn't hurt he thought. Just as he was busy the right engine of the plane blew rocking the little craft and causing another nose dive. Nate dropped the radio and grabbed for the controls. He saw the tree line approaching and realized he was not going to make it. His face contorted with pain and terror as tied to keep the nose up. He said a silent prayer and pulled at the controls as the first impact shook the plane. He was thrown around in the co-pilots chair which he was firmly strapped into. He felt something give in his shoulder followed by almost unbearable pain. The explosion also shattered the windscreen which showered him with pieces of glass. Things were being thrown around the aircraft as it made its crazy decent. He felt a sharp blow to the back of his head and then everything went black. His unconscious body strained against the straps holding him in his seat as the plane made its way to a full stop.

"Gentlemen I trust you are satisfied with the result." A voice said to the group sitting around the table. The image of the smoking, wrecked plane filled the large screen they were watching. They could barely make out the form of Nate as he sat slumped in his chair.

"We are." The man sitting at the head of the table replied for all of them.

"Do you wish me to eliminate the rest of his team?" The man asked matter-of-factly.

"First you will have to finish the job." One of the group spat out as Nate Ford unclipped himself from his harness and stumbled out of camera shot. Shortly afterward the screen went black as the explosion tore apart the wreckage.

The man standing before them could not believe his eyes and for a minute he was silent. Then a slow smile crept across his face. "I assure you gentlemen that Mr. Ford will not survive the environment. A storm is moving into the area and he will most certainly freeze to death. This should please you even more, his suffering is not over."

"You had better be right." The leader of the group said. "We have paid a lot of money to ensure his demise."

"I assure you gentlemen; if Mr. Ford should by some miracle survive this, which I don't think is possible. I will make sure that he meets his end in a suitably painful way." The man said quietly, not liking the tone of his employer. "I will also ensure that you are witness to his death as agreed." The man finished.

"You better. And as for the rest of his team, we are all agreed that they are not worth the money you requested for their elimination. They will be no threat to us; they will not be able to function as a team without Nathan Ford."

The man looked at the group and could not hide his contempt. He had studied these people, they were not just his team; they were more like a family with very close bonds. Those four people would not stop until the men before him had all paid a terrible price for Nate's death, of that he was sure. But that was not his decision, if the team threatened him, then he would do something about them. He did not kill for fun, he killed for money and if they were not going to pay him, then so be it.

"Very well gentlemen, I will be in touch with you again once Nathan Ford's death has been confirmed." He said as he left the room.

**Again thanks to all of you for reviewing and reading. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be posted soon.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Eliot read the note again slowly then lifted the photographs in at the bottom of the box. The first one was of Sophie, she was out shopping somewhere in Boston in the shot. Next was Parker who was sitting on the roof of Nate's apartment building. Hardison was sitting in a café working on his computer and Eliot was in his apartment cooking. These were not long distance shots they were up close and personal. The photographer must have been in close proximity to his subjects. A chill ran down Eliot's spine. Whoever this was he was good, very good.

"Eliot…" Sophie called softly as she knocked at the door. "Eliot is everything alright?"

Eliot said yes and opened the door. He stepped into the room holding his finger over his mouth to indicate silence. He looked briefly over at Nate who was still asleep. Eliot motioned to the other three that they should step out the room.

Once they had stepped outside and Eliot closed the door softly they all looked at Eliot expectantly.

"What the hell man Eliot?" Hardison said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Eliot…what was in the package?" Sophie asked anxiously.

Eliot looked at all three of them. Then he held up the photo of Sophie and handed it to her. Then he handed the other two their photos.

"What is this…?" Parker asked looking at herself and then Eliot.

"They are a warning for Nate. They were in the box with this note." Eliot said holding up the card.

"Well what is on it?" Parker asked impatiently.

Eliot opened the card and started reading it slowly to them…

_Congratulations Mr. Ford. You are more resilient than I expected. I am quite impressed actually. I believe you will make a very able opponent in our little game. _

_Mr. Ford I do not wish to eliminate your team, I have not been paid to do that. If you value their lives you will distance yourself from them. I include the photographs only to show you that if you do not do as I ask I shall remove them from the contest myself. As you can see by the photo's I can do as I say._

_I look forward to meeting you in person Mr. Ford. _

"So why did we have to stand out here to read it?" Hardison asked.

"Don't be an idiot Hardison…" Parker said quietly. "If Nate heard that he would make sure he got himself away from us."

"Nate can never know about this note or the package." Sophie agreed. Nate would be an idiot she was sure and he would try to protect them by distancing himself from them as asked. He would be a self-sacrificing fool and they all knew it.

"Agreed; Nate cannot find out about this." Eliot said softly. He was scared. For the first time in a long time he was truly scared. Not for himself. He could look after himself. He was scared for his team, these people that had become closer to him than any family he had ever had. He was afraid for the man lying in the bed. A man who had given him a second chance in life, something he had not thought he would ever get. Whoever this was he was better than most. He was not going to stop until stopped, of that Eliot was certain. "If he does he will go, he will try to protect us."

"Then we don't tell him." Parker said simply. Hardison nodded in agreement.

"Good…give me the photo's…" Eliot said taking the photos he walked over to a dustbin in the corner. He took out a lighter he always carried with him and set them alight, along with the note. They all watched it burn then looked at each other before reentering Nate's room.

Nate lay still sound asleep in his bed. Sophie walked up to the bed and laid a hand on his forehead. Her face clouded with concern, he was hot to the touch and a thin sheen of sweat was evident on his upper lip and forehead. His face reflected the pain he was obviously in.

"Nate…Nate can you hear me?" Sophie called anxiously to him, shaking his shoulder gently.

Nate moaned slightly moving his head from side to side restlessly.

"Parker go and get a doctor now." Sophie said to the blonde woman worry plain in her voice.

Parker nodded and left the room at a run headed for the front desk of the ward. Eliot and Hardison approached the bed both looking very worried for their friend. Dr. Hartford entered the room a few minutes later and asked them to step back from the bed. His SATS are dropping Dr. and he is tachycardic. Right we need to push Propafenone and get an oxygen mask on him now. The nurse nodded handing the doctor an injection and then placing a mask over Nate's nose and mouth. Hartford injected the contents into the IV and watched the heart monitor. SATS are improving doctor; the nurse said as she watched the other machine that was attached to Nate. A few seconds later Nate's heartbeat started to slow. A few minutes later Nate opened his eyes and looked straight up at the doctor who was leaning over him shining his light into Nate's eyes. Nate shied away from the light. It was bright and hurt his eyes.

"Mr. Ford can you hear me?" The doctor asked him.

"I hear you." Nate replied with effort. He was in pain and he wanted the light out of his eyes. The doctor could see the pain on Nate's face. He switched his light off after making sure that Nate was able to respond to light stimuli. "Ok Nate, we are going to give you some drugs for the pain. Rest now please." Doctor Hartford said then after Nate nodded his assent he stepped away from the bed towards the four people who stood huddled in the corner of the room. The nurse injected Nate with the pain meds which brought almost instant relief to the man who closed his eyes and drifted into drug induced sleep.

"We have slowed his heartbeat and the pain medication that we have given him will make him sleep for the next few hours. I am not sure what happened, we will need to run some tests to see if there is any infection taken root. He is scheduled for the Scan this afternoon. The nurse will be in to prep him and also to draw some blood in a few minutes. As I said, he should sleep for now. We will have to wake him later for the Scan but not before."

"We'll make sure he gets his rest doctor, don't worry." Sophie said casting her eyes back to Nate who now looked like he was sleeping peacefully under the influence of the drugs.

Once the doctor left the room Sophie moved to Nate's side and ran her hand over his forehead again. His skin was cold and clammy. She leaned over him and kissed him on his forehead. "Sleep Nate, don't worry about anything, just rest. Please Nate just rest." Sophie said running her hand through his hair tenderly a tear slipping from her eye.

"What now Eliot, what do we do now?" Parker asked in a soft whisper. She was scared, scared of losing Nate, scared of not being able to protect Nate, scared of not knowing if she could protect Nate. She needed to do something. She needed to be able to do something or she would go nuts.

"Now Parker, now we prepare. Nobody goes anywhere alone. Nate is never left without at least two of us with him. Hardison…" Eliot continued turning toward the Hacker, "I need you to run one of your searches. This guy…this assassin, he is not new on the scene. He must have done other jobs. See if you can find anything, anything remotely like what is happening here. Also you need to run a search on some of our marks. Focus on the ones who could afford a top notch hitman. We need to know where they are and what they are doing now. Parker, you and I are going to do a sweep of the hospital. You need to check out the vents, especially around this room. Check that there is nothing there, especially cameras or any monitoring equipment. Sophie…"

"I know, I'll be right here with Nate and Hardison." Sophie said without looking away from Nate.

"Ok, everybody we are now at high alert. Hardison this door stays closed and locked at all times, I will clear it with the Doctor, the medical staff can knock if they want in. Sophie you still have what I gave you earlier?" Eliot asked softly.

"Yes Eliot…don't worry, nobody is getting near him here. I think we have to worry about when we have to leave this hospital." Sophie replied.

"Maybe but I am not taking any chances." Eliot responded. He took a long look at Nate who was now unconscious, Eliot knew the difference between asleep and unconscious and he knew that the drugs had knocked Nate out. That was good he thought, Nate needed rest and with everything going on he was not going to get it unless it was drug induced.

"Parker lets go…" Eliot said taking one last look at Nate and then leaving; Hardison followed them to the door and locked it behind them. He then turned and sat down with his laptop furiously tapping on the keyboard.

Parker and Eliot left the room headed down the corridor. They did not see the man standing at the nurse's station with a bunch of flowers in his hand, or if they did they did not recognize him as a threat. He was a small man standing no taller than 5 foot 6 inches, stickily built. Actually there was nothing about him that was outstanding. He was plain and ordinary, just like the hundreds of other people in the hospital. As the two disappeared down the corridor the man turned toward the door they had just emerged from. He smiled a cold calculating smile to himself. He noticed that the door was closed and locked from the inside. He was not going to be able to get to Nate here. Not with all the people around and the precautions taken by his team. He hoped his note had got to Nate. If it had he was sure the man would ditch his team to protect them. He would make his move then. For now he decided that he would bide his time, he turned on his heal and made his way out of the hospital. His time would come and he was not on a deadline…

**Again thanks to all of you for reviewing and reading. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be posted soon.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Nate awoke just after Eliot returned and made his way into the bathroom. He had caught a little of what was going on and understood that a package had arrived for him. He heard that Hardison said that it did not contain explosives. Nate cracked an eye open and watched them all gathered before the bathroom door waiting for Eliot to emerge. Looking through half closed eyes he saw Eliot come out of the bathroom carrying a small oblong box. His finger was in front of this mouth indicating silence. Nate suspected that was for his sake. He closed his eyes quickly before Eliot or any of them had the chance to see he was awake and forced himself to breath steadily. He heard them quietly leave the room and close the door behind them. He needed to know what was going on but had not kept his earbud in. Sophie had put it on the shelf a little way from his bed. He had to get it.

With enormous effort he managed to sit up, a wave of dizziness washed over him and pain shot through his abdomen and chest almost causing him to cry out. He bit his lip and continued to maneuver himself to the edge of the bed ignoring the pain in his side and arm and trying to regulate his breathing. He put his feet lightly on the ground took a deep breath and pushed himself into a standing position. Swaying slightly he forced himself to take the one step he needed to reach the shelf. Grabbing the earbud he placed it in his ear. He was just in time to hear Eliot read the note. Sweat had started to bead on his forehead and face. His heart rate had shot up and he could feel another wave of dizziness hit him. He turned and with almost inhuman effort he climbed back onto his bed. Lying back he managed to get the blankets over him. He did not want the team to know he had heard anything. He closed his eyes tightly and fought against the pain that surged through him. He hoped his efforts had not done any damage. He felt Sophie press her hand to his forehead and heard her call his name. Then he heard her tell Parker to get the doctor.

He was fading into darkness when the doctor started shining a bright light in his eyes. He wanted to tell him to turn it off but it just ended up in a light moan. He heard the doctor say something about medication, felt a pinprick in his arm and then everything started slowing down. He could feel the pain start to evaporate as the meds took effect and his body relaxed into unconsciousness.

He awoke to the hushed sounds of his team talking in a corner of the room. He opened his eyes slightly to see them huddled around a small desk that had been placed in the far corner. Hardison sat with his computer open and they were all looking at something on the screen. He watched them for a short time and then decided that he would give them a chance to tell him what was going on. He knew they wouldn't. They wanted to protect him. He remembered every word Eliot had read and it chilled him to the bone. He gave an involuntary shiver at the thought of somebody going after them because of him.

"Hey guys…what's going on?" He called out.

"Hey look who's awake…" Hardison said with a start a guilty look coming over his face. He did not like hiding things from Nate, even if he knew it was for his own good.

"Nate…how are you feeling? You gave us quite a scare there you know?" Sophie said softly.

"Sorry…" Nate replied.

"That's ok, you are back with us again and looking much better." Sophie smiled. "The nurse will be in shortly to take you to your Scan."

"Oh…ok, how long have I been out?" Nate asked.

"A few hours…but that's good you need the rest." Eliot answered.

"So what did you guys find out?" Nate asked trying to sit up but deciding it was not a good idea.

Silence met his question. None of them wanted to blatantly lie to Nate. None of them thought they could get away with it. They knew they had to tell him something though.

"Well according to the coroners' report, although most of the body was burnt and no tissue samples could be taken. The pathologist was able to extract some of Mr. Channing's stomach contents. Turns out he ate Amanita Mushrooms the night before. That is what caused the incapacitation. The explosion did the rest. As for the device, the fire in the cockpit destroyed all evidence of the device except for residue with indicated its existence. It was probably a small quantity of PETN which would be just big enough to create a small explosion which would have destroyed the instrument panel." Eliot gave Nate the rundown of what their initial investigations had uncovered. He neglected to tell Nate about the package or its contents.

"So it was not an accident then?" Nate stated.

"No, somebody was after you Nate. Now we just have to figure out who it is." Eliot confirmed.

"Any ideas on that front Nate?" Sophie asked.

"Well we have taken down a lot of powerful people, Moreau, the Irish Mob, the Russians just to name a few of the possibilities." Nate replied.

"Well I did some checking and most of our ex-marks are either in jail or just disappeared." Hardison said. "Some of them are involved in shady deals again but on a low level. Most of them lost everything when we took them down, so any of them would be willing to get back at us."

"But they are not after US…they are after Nate." Parker said. Sophie cast her eye at her to warn her not to say anything more.

"Why do you say that Parker…" Nate asked hoping the young woman would do what she normally did and say too much. Then it would be out in the open and they could deal with the issue.

"Well…it was you in the plane and nobody has made a play for any of us at all." Parker said. She was not going to give Nate any reason to run away from them. To try to deal with this on his own; and get himself killed in the process. She was not going to be responsible for that.

"Maybe they just want to take Nate out first before coming for the rest of us…you know cut of the head of the snake before destroying the body…" Hardison added.

"Nice image Hardison…" Eliot said.

"Well Nate always makes sure the mark knows it was him that brought him down. Yeah with our help but he lets the mark KNOW it was HIM." Sophie continued.

"Yeah he takes all the credit…" Parker said looking at Nate.

"Wait a minute…" Sophie said suddenly a thought popping into her head. She had never considered it until now. She just thought that Nate was a little arrogant and wanted some of the spotlight as he gloated over his fallen adversaries. But now she thought she knew the actual reason. "You do it on purpose don't you? You make sure they know it was you so that if there is any comeback…"

"They go after you." Eliot finished for her looking at Nate with a new respect in his eyes.

"No, no, no…I'm just an egotist." Nate said with a smile on his face. He knew they thought that he was a bit full of himself. They thought he was arrogant and self-righteous. He liked them to continue thinking that because it kept them safe. It kept the spotlight off them and on him. If anybody wanted revenge, it would be him they came after.

"Nate you have to start realizing that you are just as important as the rest of us. You're safety is as important to us as ours is to you. Nate…" Sophie angrily wiped tears away from her eyes. She thought about all their jobs. How he always managed to give himself the part where either the mark would go after him, or if there was a very dangerous part to play he took it. He had to know that if anything happened to him she would die. She knew he was just protecting them but didn't he know that they would do anything to protect him. "Nate…you…you have to start thinking about yourself as a vital part of this team, this family. You are NOT expendable, you are NEEDED." Sophie continued the tears still rolling down her face.

The others just watched and listened to Sophie. They all realized that what she said was true. Nate took the heat. During cons and after them too it seemed. He was the only one that had managed to get himself shot during a con, not once but twice. Eliot was the hitter and he got hurt less than Nate did. They did not think that was by design until now.

"Ok…ok I get it…" Nate said softly running his hand over Sophie's face and wiping away the tears. He hated it when she cried, and he especially hated it when he was the cause of the tears. He knew he was going to do it again. He knew he was going to hurt her again. He knew he had to leave them. All of them, to keep them safe he was going to have to draw this hitter, whoever he was, away from his family. He had to keep them safe. That was his main priority. He knew this as he looked at them and a deep sadness crossed his face. He just hoped they would understand.

**How is Nate going to get away from his team…do you think he will be able to. What will happen if he does? Will he survive? Next chapter will be up soon. Thanks for the reviews…keep them coming.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

The next few days passed uneventfully. Nate was starting to go stir crazy lying in the bed all day. His scan had proved clear and there was no residual damage to the brain and no further bleeding or swelling. Nate still got slight headaches but the doctor told him that that was normal and as long as they did not become unbearable they were not a problem. His arm was also healing well. The nerves were reattaching themselves and although the pain was quite severe, the medication took care of that. He did not have much use of the arm however the doctor was impressed with the progress made with physiotherapy. His ribs were healing well and so were his intestinal injuries. Nate was ready to leave the hospital and he made no bones about it. He even threatened to sign himself out AMA if the doctor did not acquiesce to his demands.

The rest of the team were also getting a little cabin feverish. Although Eliot was quite happy to stay in the hospital, at least here he could protect them and they were fairly safe. The spectra of the hitman still hung over them, and he did not want to take any chances. He had spent his time organizing transport home. Kevin had volunteered his services which Eliot eagerly accepted. At least he could trust him and knew that Kevin would go over his bird with a fine toothcomb before flying anywhere. He knew the situation and would not be caught unawares. He also called on Quinn to help with protection when they got back to Portland. Quinn was quite willing to accept the job. He liked Nate, and he liked the team, and Eliot promised him action and a lot of money. He also asked Quinn to check with his contacts to see if they could put a name to the hitman that was on their tail.

Hardison spent his time on his computer. He was still busy tracking down any and all marks that he could trace. He was getting very frustrated when he came up empty over and over again. None of them seemed in a position to pull this off. The hitman that they had hired was undoubtedly very expensive. He spent time talking to Nate about who he thought it could be. He also asked if there were any people from his past as an IYS insurance cop that could have held a grudge and maybe come after Nate. Nate gave him a few names, but there were not many that he could think of. Hardison was also tracking any and all payments made to and from these suspects but again came up empty. No large amounts stood out.

Parker spent her time either talking endlessly to anybody whether they were listening or not. She spent a lot of time with Nate, getting him to try to teach her chess, but she kept stealing the pieces, much to Nate's annoyance. She also spent her time checking the hospital with Eliot. They did regular rounds, including Parker shimmying into the air ducts to make sure there were no devices of any kind planted in them. The mere fact that Parker did not up and leave, for any time at all, which was her way, was testament to her commitment to Nate and keeping him safe and secure.

Sophie spent her time with Nate or helping Hardison. She also spent time talking to Eliot trying to work out how they were going to protect Nate when they got home to Portland. Nate's apartment was out of the question so Sophie set about getting a safe house set up. She could not do this herself so she called on Tara to help. Tara was more than willing to help the team out, she saw them as partly her team anyway. She had also grown to respect Nate if not completely like him. She knew Sophie loved him though, and if anything happened to Nate on Sophie's watch she would never forgive herself. By the end of the week Tara had informed Sophie she had a safe house ready for them.

Nate watched them all. He was making his own plans. He knew that just walking off would not be possible. He was never alone. One of them was always with him. Even when he went for tests or physiotherapy one of them accompanied him. Hell he thought if he had not put his foot down, one of them would have been with him in the bathroom too. He wracked his brain trying to come up with some way that he could give them the slip. He also knew that when he was on his own, he was going to be very vulnerable. He had nobody to call on, and anyway he was not going to put anybody else in danger. He thought briefly about calling Sterling, but decided against it. He insisted on taking long walks around the corridors of the hospital, trying to build his strength. He had accepted that the use of his left arm would not be possible and he would just have to get by without it. The hitman had not contacted them again; he had not sent any packages or made any phone calls. Well at least as far as Nate knew, he could not be sure that if he had, it had not been intercepted like his first package. Nate found that his energy levels were not very high. He would get tired quite quickly and his pain levels increased when he exerted himself. He was beginning to doubt that he would be able to execute any plan he came up with. He knew he would probably be signing his own death warrant by leaving, but it was worth it to save the team. To this end he also spent time writing a letter to each of them. Keeping the letters hidden from them proved none too easy but he managed it. He wanted them to know that if he did end up dead, it was by his own choice. That they were his family and he loved them; and no sacrifice he made for them was too great, including his own life. Eventually Nate decided that the only way he was going to make any plan work was with the help of Doctor Hartman. The only time he was alone was with the good doctor and that only because he had insisted on it from the beginning. Eliot had not been happy wanting somebody with Nate even during examinations, but Nate had insisted. He had known that he needed to have some time alone if he was ever going to pull this off. He decided to take a chance and ask him for help in getting away from his team. The problem was getting the doctor to agree to help. The other problem was coming up with a plan that was plausible to the team for him to have to undergo some sort of treatment alone. Perhaps the doctor could help him with that too. Some medical reason to have to go to theatre for a small procedure, they would not allow them into theatre that was certain. From there he could just disappear. He also needed the doctors' help with obtaining the drugs he would need, particularly pain meds.

By the end of the week, Nate had a plan. He had the doctors consent to assist him, if reluctantly. The doctor had informed Nate with the team in attendance that before he could release him he had to perform an angiogram to make sure that he had no problems. He came up with the reason that Nate had sustained crush injuries to the chest which could cause problems with arteries. The doctor was very convincing in his explanations. Eliot accepted that the procedure was necessary however was not at all happy that none of them would be allowed into the theatre where the procedure would be done. The doctor assured them that Nate would be completely safe and that the procedure would not last longer than an hour. Finally it was agreed by all. Nate wanted to say goodbye, he wanted to hug Sophie and kiss her and tell her he loved her. He wanted to hug each of them and tell them to look after themselves but he knew he couldn't. He took the letters with him and gave them to the doctor instructing him to give them to Eliot when it was over. As he was wheeled out of the room he took one last look at his team and silently bade them farewell.

**Next chapter will be up soon. Thanks for the reviews – as I said before they are really much appreciated.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

"I still don't like this." Doctor Hartford said as he watched Nate dress in the clothes he had brought for him. He had learnt a lot about these people since Nate had first been brought in. He had seen their dedication to Nate and his to them. He knew that Nate was in danger, as was the whole group. Nate had been very persuasive in his arguments to him as to why this was necessary. He dreaded the moment Eliot found out Nate had duped him in order to get away, and with the doctors help too.

"Well doc, I don't particularly like it either…" Nate said his voice strained with the effort of dressing. Although such a simple task, it took on mammoth proportions in his weakened state. "But it is the only way to keep them safe." Nate finished sitting back in the chair to catch his breath.

"So you told me…" The doctor replied. He walked up to Nate and saw that he was sweating profusely from his efforts and a frown of concern crossed his features. "You are not going to get very far. You know you should still be in bed." The doctor looked at his patient and then gave a deep sigh. He was not going to change what was. "Here are the medicines. Now it is very important that you drink the antibiotics as prescribed to prevent any infections. These are your pain meds. I have also included some vitamins, including B12 Complex; that should help with your energy levels. Try not to over exert yourself…" Nate looked up at him and almost laughed at the request. Seeing his patients' expression he continued on. "I know I am asking the impossible, but at least try to get some rest when you can. Also try not to put too much pressure on your arm. It is healing nicely and you could re-damage the nerves, which could cause permanent damage."

"Thanks doc…for everything. I know you don't want to do this but believe me it is the only way." Nate said taking the proffered medicines and putting it in the bag the doctor had brought for him. He stood up from the chair and almost fell over with the wave of dizziness that caught him. The doctor reached out and held him steady until Nate shrugged him off with a quiet thank you.

"You are in no condition to be doing this…" The doctor said almost on the verge of telling Nate that he was not going to go through with the deception. "I don't think…"

"Don't doc. Believe me I know the odds and I know what I am doing. Now I know you don't think it is a good idea, but trust me, this is the only way to keep them safe." Nate smiled at the doctor. "I have a plan, don't you worry doc." He finished.

"Well ok..." Hartford replied reluctance still evident in his tone. "I have done as you asked and called a taxi, he is waiting outside to take you to the airport. You can leave by that door there; it leads to the back of the hospital where the cab will be waiting. Is there anything else?"

"The letters I gave you doc. Make sure Eliot gets them…and tell them…I am sorry." Nate said then turned and walked out the door. The doctor watched him go and shook his head sadly.

Nate headed out the door and true to his word a taxi was waiting to pick him up when he got outside. Nate instructed the driver to take him to the airport and then sat back and closed his eyes. He hoped his plan would work…for all their sakes.

**Sorry I know it is a very short chapter this time…but fear not the next one will be up soon. Enjoy…**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Eliot was getting restless. It had been over an hour and a half since they had taken Nate into the theatre and there was still no sign of him. The doctor had told them that the procedure would be no longer than an hour and Hardison had confirmed this when he had done some research. Nate should have been out by now. He could see the others were also getting nervous. Not that Eliot thought anybody had got to Nate; no it was more a worry that something had gone wrong with the procedure. But surly the doctor would have sent somebody out to tell them. He was just about to barge through the doors when the doctor emerged…minus Nate.

The look on the doctors' face did not bode well. He was afraid, afraid of telling them something. No, Eliot thought; no not now…please not now. He moved to Sophie's side seeing her come to the same conclusion as him and pure terror was beginning to manifest on her face.

"Doctor…?" Eliot asked hesitantly.

"Eliot…I…" Hartford was not sure how to tell them.

"No, no, no, NO…he's not…" Sophie chocked out.

The doctor then realized that his manner had given them the expectation that something terrible had happened to Nate. Oh God he thought, they think he's dead…

"No…no… Nate is fine…well as well as he could be. He's just gone…I mean he left…I mean…" The doctor stuttered out.

"What do you mean gone…left or whatever. Where is he?" Parker said in a threatening manner.

"I mean he left the hospital.

"How…? What the hell…" Eliot spat out.

"I am sorry, he made a strong case and…well he has left. He asked me to give these to you Eliot; and to say he was…well he was sorry." Hartford handed Eliot the letters Nate had given him and then made a hasty retreat. He was not sure that either Parker or Eliot would not do something to him because he had helped Nate evade them.

Eliot watched the doctor leave then turned towards the others. He looked down at the letters the doctor had given him. There were four, one for each of them. Their names scrawled on them in Nate's familiar handwriting. Silently he walked back to Nate's room and once they were all in he closed the door. He handed each of them their notes and then opened his…

_Eliot_

_I know right now you are ready to kill me. I am sorry that I had to do this but it was the only way. I know about the hitman, I know about the package…I am sorry. If I stayed with you guys then he would go after you and I can't take that chance. I know that if I had told you of my plans you would not approve. So I didn't. _

_I am heading back to Portland. When I get there I will go the apartment and get an earbud. You need to get the team back there as soon as possible. I will be in touch. I am sure Hardison will be able to track the GPS signal in the earbud, but please don't come running for me. We need to draw this guy out Eliot. And this is the only way to do it. You need to let him get to me…He said "meet you in person" so I am gambling on him not going for killing at a distance again. It is a gamble I might lose but it is the only way. _

_I trust you Eliot, more than any other man, to have my back. More importantly I trust you to keep our family safe. Understand that you and Parker and Hardison and Sophie are the most important people in my life. Look after them please, keep them safe._

_If this plan does not work Eliot, I want you to know that you are not to blame; you could not have prevented it. If I do not make it I am putting my trust in you again Eliot, with the most precious thing in my life…my family. Please help them, especially Sophie to get through whatever happens. I need to know that you will be there for them, that you will keep them together as a family. _

_Thank you Eliot, for being the man you are. You are a good man and a true friend. I am honoured to have known you._

_Nate._

Parker looked down at the envelope in her hands. She held it tentatively as if it were going harm her. She looked over at Hardison who was already reading his letter. Nervously she opened the envelope and took out the sheet of paper inside…

_Parker_

_I know you are angry and scared at the same time. I am so sorry that I had to do this to you. I am not leaving you Parker; don't ever think that I would. I just need to do this to protect you and the others. I have a plan and Eliot will let you know what to do and when you are needed._

_Parker if the plan goes wrong, if for some reason I do not come back. Please know that it is not your fault. Remember you have a family now, people who love you. Rely on them for support and don't run away from them. Please Parker I need to know that you will be alright no matter what happens._

_Parker, I don't know how to make you understand how much you mean to me. You are my family, you and Eliot, Sophie and Hardison are my family, the only one I have. Please stay with them, keep them safe. I am trusting you Parker to look after Hardison for me if something goes wrong. He is going to need your support and your help._

_Thank you Parker for, well for just being you; I could not imagine my life without you in it. Look after yourself and the others._

_Nate._

Hardison took his letter and immediately ripped open the envelope. He was mad. No he was fuming. How could Nate to this to them, just run off and leave them. He was going to let him have it when he saw him again. He looked down at the paper in his hand and started reading…

_Hardison_

_I know you are probably very angry with me right about now. I need you to focus; I need your head in the game. I have a plan and Eliot is going to need you to make it work. No matter what Hardison you always come through. Just focus on the job and you will do fine._

_If the plan doesn't work though, if for some reason it ends badly please don't blame yourself. I know that you will do your very best to make it work. Sometimes Hardison things go wrong and it is nobody's fault. This will be one of those times. I know I am taking a risk, but to keep you and the others safe it is a risk I feel is worth taking._

_Hardison I want to thank you now. Thank you for every bit of work you put into our jobs. Every bit of love and care you take with creating our aliases and making sure everything we need is always there. Thank you for always being one step ahead when it comes to getting information to keep us safe. I told you a few years ago that you could be anybody you put your mind too. I meant it. I am just glad that you are who you are. I am glad that you are part of our family and I am very proud of who you are._

_Hardison, if something does go wrong Parker is going to need you more than ever. Promise me you will look after her and make sure she stays with the family. Make sure she is safe. I am trusting you Hardison to take care of our girl._

_Take care of yourself and the others. Eliot is going to need you to help look after the girls. Be there for him and for them. _

_Nate._

Sophie took the note from Eliot. Her hands were shaking with emotion as she looked down at the envelope with Nate's handwriting on it. What was the man thinking, had he heard nothing of what she had told him? She opened the envelope and drew out the letter…

_Sophie_

_How do I start this letter? I am so sorry to do this to you. I know that you do not approve of what I am doing. I know that you are mad as hell at me right now. Sophie believe me, I have no desire to leave you. I honestly believe that this is the only thing I can do. I have a plan Sophie, it is dangerous yes, a lot of things could go wrong and I could die. I have no desire to die; I have too much to live for. You gave that to me. You gave me something I never thought I would have again or feel again…Love. I love you Sophie Devereaux more than words could ever say. That is why I need to do this. Please, please understand that I would do anything to keep you safe and out of harms way, even if that is not what you want._

_I know you don't want to hear this but if something does go wrong. If I do not came back to you. I want you to know how much you mean to me. We never talk about it and I know we have not defined ourselves and what we mean to each other. But for the record I need to say that I love you Sophie with all my heart and soul. You are my anchor. You are my compass. You are everything to me._

_Sophie if something does happen then please take care of our family, and let them take care of you. They will need you, especially Eliot. He will blame himself and you know that. Be there for him and the others._

_I love you Sophie._

_All my love_

_Nate._

Sophie carefully folded her letter and put it back in the envelope.

"So Eliot…what now..?" Sophie asked simply.

"Now we get back to Portland ASAP…" Eliot replied taking out his phone and calling Kevin.

**Wow got a bit emotional writing this. Hope you enjoy…Please keep reviewing I really appreciate them all.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Nate was exhausted by the time he took his seat in the plane headed to Portland. He was also in great pain. He opened the bag the doctor had given him and took two of the pain tablets he had included in the collection on medicines. Then he sat back with the seat as far back as he could go and closed his eyes.

What felt like only five minutes later, the attendant was shaking his shoulder and telling him that they had arrived in Portland. Nate thanked her as he ran his hand across his face. He was still dead tired and although the pain had receded it was still there. He was also nursing a headache from hell. He slowly got to his feet having to steady himself as he swayed slightly from dizziness. When he felt he could he grabbed his small bag and made his way off the plane. Hailing a taxi he made his way to his apartment.

The man sitting across from Nate on the plane stood and left after him. He was a short man, unremarkable in every way. If a person looked closer though, he had piercingly grey eyes that looked right through a person. His eyes were cold and his face showed no emotions. He watched Nate get up and sway slightly with the effort. Then followed him off the plane and into the parking area where he hailed a cab. He hailed one of his own and gave the cabbie and address to head to.

Nate's cab pulled up in front of his apartment block. He got out and paid the driver. He then made his way into the building and up to the penthouse. Once he was inside he made sure the door was locked. Then he made his way over to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. He removed the bottle of amber liquid that stood waiting for him, removing the lid he raised the bottle to his lips and took a deep swallow. The fiery liquid burnt a path down his throat and settled into his stomach giving him a warm feeling. Taking another swig from the bottle he walked over to the work bench that had been set up for them by Hardison. There he found an earbud which he picked up and put in his pants pocket. Then he walked over to the sofa and flopped down. He lifted the bottle again to his lips and downed another large swig. Then putting the bottle down on the table he lay back and closed his eyes. He did not know how long he had but he was sure he would not have to wait too much more before the hitman made his appearance. He was not going to run; he was not going to go into hiding. He would wait right here for the man to come for him. He knew that his team would only be back in Portland either late in the evening if they managed to get a charter, or only tomorrow morning if taking a commercial flight. He assumed Eliot would arrange a charter flight in order to get here as soon as possible. He was exhausted and in pain. After a few minutes Nate was asleep.

About six hours after Nate's arrival another cab pulled up in front of his apartment. The man from the plane got out and paid the driver. He then made his way into the building and up to the penthouse. Picking the lock easily he entered the apartment. The room was dark and the only sound was the soft snoring coming from the sofa. The man smiled contentedly. He made his way over to the sofa without turning the light on. He looked down at the sleeping man, taking note of the pill bottle on the table along with the now half empty bottle of whiskey. He was not in a hurry. He had arranged for his employers to meet him at the warehouse he had rented for the occasion. They would only arrive in Portland late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

He had developed a respect for the man lying before him. Firstly for being able to stay alive in the middle of the wilderness and that in the middle of a blizzard, and secondly for having the courage to leave his team and not hide behind them, knowing it would probably mean his death. He was almost sorry he had to kill him. He sighed deeply then leaned over the man and shook him and called his name.

Nate opened his eyes slowly. He noticed that the room was still dark. His senses told him he was not alone though. Turning his head to the side he saw a man sitting in the chair opposite him. He was staring at Nate and smiling.

"Good evening Mr. Ford. It is a pleasure to meet you finally." The hitman said softly.

"You are…?" Nate said groggily, still a little under the influence of the whiskey and pain tablets.

"You can call me Mr. Black."

"Are you going to kill me now?" Nate asked as he swung his feet over the edge of the sofa and turned to face the hitman.

"No Mr. Ford. My employers would like to witness your final demise. We will be meeting them tomorrow morning. Until then though, I am afraid we cannot stay here. I am sure your team is on their way and as I said in my note, I have no desire to kill any of them. I am a man of my word Mr. Ford." Black said.

"Oh great…" Nate said sarcastically.

"Please Mr. Ford if you would be so good as to stand and walk out the door. Please do not try to run, I would not want to have to hurt you now." Black said his voice was deadpan; there was no emotion in it.

Nate nodded and stood. He was still a little off balance and almost fell down again. He grimaced slightly with pain and thought that even if he had wanted to run he was not going to get far in his current state. He assumed this Mr. Black knew that too. Mr. Black made no move to assist him he merely watched. He again warned Nate not to try anything as he followed Nate out the door. Once they were on the street Mr. Black hailed a cab and letting Nate get in first he gave the driver the address and slid in next to Nate.

Nate was not sure where they were going. He knew though from the man's earlier statement that he had until morning to come up with a plan. He had hoped that the killer would not want to kill him immediately but was a bit surprised that his employers wanted to see him die. How did that work with the crash he wondered? He decided to ask.

"Oh, I installed a small camera in the cockpit. I can assure you Mr. Ford they were less than please to see you had survived." Black stated.

"Oh I bet they were. Who are they?" Nate asked.

"That is something you will find out tomorrow Mr. Ford." Black said as the cab stopped in front of a warehouse. Black ushered Nate out of the cab, paid the driver and then steered Nate to the door.

Inside the warehouse Nate saw a cell built in the center of the large room. In front of the cage there were seven comfortable chairs. Inside the cage there was one chair as well as a cot. He assumed this would be his home for the night and he was not wrong. Mr. Black led Nate to the cell and showed him inside. He then closed the gate and locked it.

"It is pick proof Mr. Ford, although you are free to try…" Black smiled at his prisoner.

"So seven, you have seven employers?" Nate asked casually.

"As I said Mr. Ford, you will meet my employers tomorrow. Until then I suggest you rest, you will need your strength." Black said ominously. He then turned from Nate and left the room turning the lights out as he went.

Nate made his way to the cot and lay down. There was nothing he could do now except wait. He pulled the earbud from his pocket and put it into his ear.

"Eliot…Hardison…can you hear me?"

**I am from South Africa and no nothing about flying times between Portland and Alaska so please forgive any incorrectness…Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews as always greatly appreciated.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Sophie carefully folded her letter and put it back in the envelope.

"So Eliot…what now..?" Sophie asked simply.

"Now we get back to Portland ASAP…" Eliot replied taking out his phone and calling Kevin.

"What the hell is Nate thinking…" Hardison said softly. "We are a team and this ain't right man." He finished the raw emotion in his voice drawing Sophie's gaze.

She dropped her eyes to the envelope she was holding. These had been Nate's goodbyes to them and they all knew it. She could not stop the tears from slipping down her cheeks as she packed her things up.

"He has a plan right, Nate said he had a plan…so…it's going to be ok right?" Parker sniffed as she hurriedly packed her things as well. She was not prepared to entertain the thought that Nate's plan would not work. Nate always had a plan and they always worked, and even if one of them got hurt, they always survived. He was going to survive too.

"Yes Parker he has a plan and it entails us getting back to Portland as soon as we can. I have arranged with Kevin, he was still in town and will be ready for lift off when we get to the airfield." Eliot answered. The urgency in Eliot's voice spurred them on and within minutes they were exiting the hospital and getting into a taxi on its way to the airport.

"What happens when we get back…how are we going to know where Nate is?" Hardison asked nobody in particular.

"He said he would get an earbud." Eliot informed them. "You are going to have to track him through that."

"Great so when we land we get to go save him right?" Parker said a little more cheerfully. Nate had a plan, and he was going to be ok.

"No Parker. He asked that we wait. He said he would contact us and let us know when to come get him. We need to catch the hitman and his employer together if we can." Eliot answered.

"But…but what if he can't…" Parker hesitated. "I mean what if he can't let us know, what if he can't talk to us…what if…"

"It's ok girl, whatever happens Eliot has a plan." Hardison turned to Eliot. "Right Eliot, you have a plan…?"

"Yeah…yeah I do Hardison…but first we have to see if Nate was able to do what he thought he could." Eliot confirmed.

Hardison nodded and took out his phone. He would be able to monitor any and all earbuds from it and the minute Nate had one active he would know. He looked at the monitor and disappointment registered on his face. All the earbuds were still at the apartment and none of them were active. The rest of the trip to the airport was spent in silence. Once there they transferred their belongings and climbed in Kevin's helicopter. Eliot asked Kevin to make as good time as he could and then took his seat beside Sophie.

About halfway through the flight Hardison shouted out to them that one of the earbuds…meaning Nate…was on the move. There was still no audio but the GPS tracking indicated that it was definitely travelling.

"Well part one is done." Eliot said. "Hardison don't lose that signal."

"Don't worry man, where it goes I see." Hardison said without taking his eyes of his screen.

The rest of the flight was spent in tense silence. Each of the four people were wondering how Nate was going to proceed and each of them was hoping to hear his voice over their Comms. They finally landed in Portland and quickly thanked Kevin and then made their way to Lucile. They had left at her the airport when they departed what seemed like a lifetime ago. Eliot and Hardison sat upfront with Sophie and Parker taking their seats in the rear. Parker grabbed Sophie's hand and squeezed it as Eliot sped out of the parking area with Hardison directing him on where to go.

"Eliot…Hardison…can you hear me?" Nate's voice came over their Comms.

"Nate…Nate, yes we can hear you. We are on our way." Eliot said to his friend, relief at hearing his voice evident in his tone.

"No Eliot. No you need to stay out. Apparently I will be meeting his employers tomorrow. You need to wait until they are all in the room before doing anything. This is a lucky strike. I didn't think we would get the employers as well." Nate returned.

"What if you wait too long?" Sophie said quietly trying to remain calm and focus on the job and not her concern for Nate's wellbeing.

"You said employers, plural…" Eliot said ignoring Sophie's comment.

"Yes, apparently he has seven. Don't ask me who they are he would not tell me." Nate replied. "Hardison can you check on a Mr. Black for me…that is the name he gave me and although it is definitely just an alias maybe he has used it before." Nate asked.

"Sure got it Nate…" Hardison said and immediately started working on his computer.

"Nate…"Sophie said softly.

"Sophie I know. This is the only way though. If we don't get them they will carry on, none of us will ever be safe." Nate said gently. He could feel Sophie's angst over the Comms. He knew she was scared and worried and he was the cause. "Eliot you may need help for this one…" Nate started saying and then another voice cut into the conversation.

"Mr. Ford, if you would be so kind as to remove the earbud from your ear and give it to me." Mr. Black said holding out his hand to Nate. He had not noticed the man's arrival; he was as silent as Parker was in his movements. Nate looked up at the man with a defeated look and handed the device to him.

"I am very disappointed Mr. Ford, I thought that your team were important enough to you to spare them any harm." Mr. Black said as he took the device and placed it in his ear. "Ladies and gentlemen I am sorry to say that Mr. Ford's fate has already been sealed. There is no need for you all to meet the same end." Black said to the team and then removed the earbud and dropped it on the floor crushing it with the heel of his boot. He then turned back to Nate. "I hope you have not signed their death warrant's Mr. Ford. But if they interfere I will kill them, and that will be on you."

**What do you think the team will do now…does Eliot have a plan? Will they wait? Who are Mr. Blacks' employers…next chapter coming soon. Thank you all again so much for the kind words I am glad you are enjoying the story as much as I am enjoying writing it. **


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

"_Ladies and gentlemen I am sorry to say that Mr. Ford's fate has already been sealed. There is no need for you all to meet the same end." _

Silence greeted the words of the assassin. Then a cold fury ripped through Eliot. His voice was quiet when he spoke. The venom in his voice sent a shiver down his teams' collective spines.

"I'm coming for Nate…and I am coming for you…" Eliot said but before he could continue the screech of the earbud being destroyed filled his ears.

None of them moved; they seemed to stop breathing for an instant. Sophie stared at Eliot, a pleading, heartbreaking look on her face. Were they too late? Had Nate's plan misfired? What did they do now?

"What do we do now Eliot?" Hardison asked breaking the silence and voicing he question on all of their minds.

"We wait…" Eliot said trying to avoid Sophie's terrified look as she realized what he said. "We wait until they arrive." Eliot continued his voice calm and cold. He would wait. He would wait until all of the people responsible for this were there. Then he would unleash the wolf inside. Either he would be saving Nate or avenging him; either way death and destruction would follow in his wake.

"We can't wait…he found the Comms…we can't leave Nate…" Parker said in a panic. She made a move to exit the van, to go to the rescue but Eliot's cold voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Sit down Parker. We wait. Nate will be fine until the people who organized this arrive. According to Nate that will be in a few hours; so we will wait." Eliot said the finality in his voice caused the young thief to resume her position next to Sophie without argument.

None of them had ever seen Eliot like this. It scared them and comforted them at the same time. They knew that Eliot had a beast within him. He was a hitter. He was a killer and they all knew it. He had never allowed that part of him to surface, at least not to their knowledge, since he had been with the team. He was not the Eliot they knew right now, but he was the Eliot they needed.

Eliot leaned back in the front seat and closed his eyes going over what Nate had said in his mind. _You are going to need help_. Who did Nate mean, who should he ask for help? Help to do what, what was Nate's full plan?Eliot wracked his brain trying to think like Nate. Trying to see the whole picture and what the Mastermind might have had in mind. How was he going to take down the seven men coming tomorrow? Nate could not have meant to kill them. That was not Nate's style. So what was the man's plan? Eliot ran a hand over his eyes in frustration.

"Eliot." Sophie said softly, she had moved herself to the front of the van in the seat directly behind him. "I think you should call Sterling." Sophie too had been trying to work out what Nate had been thinking. She knew him better than most, better than anyone in fact. She knew he would not want to kill the men, not unless he had to. Then she realized that the only way to take them down without killing them was to have them arrested. They could not call the cops; they were not in Boston anymore so Bonnano was not an option. Then she had it, Sterling. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed Sterling.

Sophie's words rocked Eliot. Sterling, why in the hell would he call that son of a …Then he got it. Sterling was with Interpol. He would not only be able to bring backup he would be able to arrest these men and send them away for a good long time. But how would they control Sterling? How would they make sure that he did not jeopardize Nate himself? He hated Nate. He had put him in jail; he had tricked the team on more than one occasion. He had put them in harms way in Dubai...he was not to be trusted.

"I know what you are thinking Eliot but he owes us. He owes Nate for his daughter. Sterling may be many things, but I think he is the kind of man who pays his debts." Sophie said reading the Hitters thoughts well. "It is what Nate would do and you know it." Sophie said quietly. She did not like the idea either but it was, in her opinion, the most likely way Nate would have handled this.

Sophie turned to Hardison who had been listening intently to their conversation.

"Do you have his number?" She asked already knowing the answer. Just as Nate kept tabs on all their marks so Hardison kept tabs on all the people he considered a threat to the team. Sterling was certainly one of them.

Hardison nodded and then handed Sophie his phone. She took it putting it to her ear. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Sterling."

"Sterling…it's Sophie Devereaux."

"Ah…and what can I do for you today Ms. Devereaux?" Sterling asked not showing the surprise he felt. Why Sophie would be calling him of all people he had no idea. Suddenly he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he was not going to like the answer to that question.

"We need your help. Nate is in danger…"

"Sophie I think you are calling the wrong person." Sterling interrupted her. He was after all a cop and Nate was a criminal. Why would he care if Nate was in danger? They were not friends after all? At least not any more Sterling thought ruefully.

"No Sterling, I am not, you are exactly who I should be calling. You owe him remember? You owe us." Sophie said quietly. When she received no answer from him she continued. She told him briefly about the events that had taken place up to now. She told him what they knew about the current situation. She told him what they expected of him and where they were currently. Silence followed her explanations and for a brief moment Sophie thought he had hung up the phone.

"I will be there in two hours. Send the address. I will be bringing help." Sterling said simply before hanging up the phone.

Who hours later, true to his word, James Sterling pulled up next to Lucille. Sophie and the rest of the team got out and approached him carefully. They were still not very trusting of this man who had caused them so much trouble through the years. A man they now had to trust to help save Nate.

"Eliot…" Sterling said nervously as the Hitter approached him. He remembered the last time he had seen Eliot. He knew the man was still angry with him for what had happened in Dubai and even though it was them that had called him, he was still wary of Eliot's reaction to his presence.

"Sterling." Eliot greeted him coldly.

"Well I am here as promised. I have twenty guys with me. They will only move on my command. I take it you will be in charge Eliot?" Sterling said looking at the Hitter.

Eliot looked at the man skeptically. Sterling would surely not allow that. Eliot had been ready for a fight when Sterling tried to take control. Now the man was standing there offering the lead to him. He was still contemplating this event when one of the assault team Sterling had brought with approached the group.

"Evens this is agent Eliot Spencer…he will be heading up this operation." Sterling said taking the entire team by surprise with is introductions. After the introductions Sterling told the man to go back and assemble the rest of the men. He also instructed them to be ready to move on Eliot's signal.

"So Eliot, what's the plan…?" He said turning toward the Hitter.

**Ok…things are heating up now… Next chapter will be up soon…**


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Nate lay back in the cot after Black had left him. He was exhausted and the pain medication was wearing off. The events of the last few hours were taking their toll on him mentally and physically.

His mind drifted to the team. They were out there somewhere ready to strike, he was sure of it. He just hoped that Eliot would have the good sense to wait. They had to take them all down. He was sure that Mr. Black was over estimating his powers. He doubted that he could take out his whole team, but just the thought of any of them being injured or killed sent a chill through him. He would rather suffer the tortures of the damned than see any harm come to them. Not that he had not sent them into situations himself where danger was present, no, he had risked their lives all of their lives, at one time or another. The difference was that he was always ready. Ready with a backup plan, ready with as many different options as they would need in any given situation, anyway, that is what he liked to think. Sophie was right he smiled to himself at this thought; he was an arrogant bastard sometimes. The fact is thought he HAD always tried to shield them from real life threatening danger, and until now he had been successful. Now it was not up to him. That scared him. He knew they were all more than capable of coming up with their own plans. Hell they had all worked alone before, no Mastermind but themselves. Eliot had handled a lot worse situations than this. But then Eliot had not had emotions to deal with. He had not had other people to think of. That was a different story altogether. Yes all of them could look after themselves in most situations, when they were alone, when they only had themselves to think of and rely on. But now…now they would be distracted by each other. Worried about each other's welfare as well as his, and that could prove dangerous. As Nate drifted slowly drifted into a fitful restless sleep he hoped that Eliot had taken his last words to heart and gotten some help.

Mr. Black woke Nate four hours later. He told Nate that his employers would be arriving shortly and he had to prepare Nate for the meeting. He did not drag Nate out of the cot but waited for him to stand himself. Nate felt like death. Pain wracked his body, breathing was painful and he tried to take short shallow breaths to negate the pain. The pain from his arm was almost overpowering. He was groggy and a little hung over from the whiskey he had imbibed the previous evening. Mr. Black waited for him to become steady on his feet then led him out of the cell and too a chair that was placed facing the seven others. Black ordered him to be seated and then cuffed his hands behind him firmly securing him to the chair. He made no other attempt to restrain Nate.

Black's phone rang suddenly making Nate start. Black smiled at him slightly as he saw Nate's nervousness and then answered the phone. He walked off to the far side of the warehouse and opened the main door enough to allow two vehicles through. The two black SUV's pulled up to just behind the chairs and shut their engines off. Nate watched with curiosity. He was finally going to find out who was doing this to him. Who had gone through all this trouble to try to kill him; and was so bent on revenge that they wanted to watch him die.

Six men emerged from the respective vehicles and took their seats. Three on one side of the middle chair and three on the other, the middle chair remained unoccupied. Nate stared at the men in the chairs. He recognized them all. He swallowed hard as his eyes took in the six men, especially the one on the far left side.

"Are you scared of me now Nate?" The man asked sarcastically his eyes flashing hatred at the man before him.

**Do you recognize who the man could be...? Why do you think the seventh seat is empty…? I know this was a little short but the next chapter up soon I hope. Thanking all of you guys for your reviews again…really appreciated.**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Nate stared at the man. He remembered the last time he had seen him. He asked him then if he thought he was afraid of him. Ian Blackpoole stared back at Nate his eyes glinting with the superiority he felt at having the man helpless before him.

"No he's not scared. The great Nathan Ford is not afraid of anything is he?" The man to the left of Blackpoole said with a smirk on his face. "Not so high and mighty now are you Ford?"

Nate tore his eyes away from Blackpoole and focused on the man now speaking. Nate recognized him as Reed Rockwell. He looked older and more haggard. Prison can do that to you Nate thought. He then swung his eyes to the next man in line. Nate immediately recognized him as Greg Sherman. The con man they had stolen from and then had arrested by the FBI. He was a smug bastard then and is a smug bastard now Nate thought to himself.

"Not so full of himself at all Reed. No, now that the shoe is on the other foot I bet he is peeing in his pants as we speak." Brad Culpepper III laughed sadistically, he still remembered the fear he had felt when Nate had pretended that he was going to torture and kill him. He wanted Nate for feel that same fear that he had felt, feel he was going to die. Only he was going to make sure Nate did die. He smiled at the thought of watching the man in front of him killed. It was only justice he thought to himself.

"What nothing to say Ford? No witty comeback? Can't con your way out of this can you?" John Drexel the fifth man in the group said caustically. "Where is your precious team now…hung you out to dry?"

"His team, what a joke…a bunch of criminals who cut and run when there is no easy mark." The sixth and final man in the room said. Nate turned to look at the man closely. It took a moment for Nate to recognize him. Charles Dufort once the head of Castleman Security.

Nate looked at all six of the men before him. There were there to watch him die. They were there to watch him suffer before he died. He saw the contempt and pure hatred on all their faces. He need to draw this out a little more, he needed time.

"You seem to be missing someone." Nate spoke for the first time.

"Well he could not join us today. No he is one of your victims that you actually did kill." Blackpoole said giving Nate the answer as to why the seventh chair was empty.

"You must be mistaken Ian, I have not killed anybody." Nate replied trying to think who he could mean. He had kept tabs on all of the teams' ex-marks. Obviously he had missed some things, hence his present predicament, but he knew that none of the marks were dead, not even Moreau. He was still back in San Lorenzo in prison.

"Well technically you did not physically kill him true. But you did rob him of his only hope of survival. You literally stole his heart…Ring any bells Nate?" Nate just stared at Ian. Dean Chesney…Nate recalled his last conversation with the man. Ian was right, he had not killed him with his own hand, but he had ensured his death.

"Ah yes I think he remembers now Ian." Charles Dufort said. "Well Chesney died before he could get to see this but he did ask us to tell you that he did not kill you…he said you would know the rest of that sentence. He financed this little job, he has brought you to your knees, you, Nate stole his life, now he steals yours, with our help and Mr. Blacks assistance of course. You took all our lives, every one of us, not literally but took them none the less, now its' payback." Dufort finished with a snarl.

Nate just looked at them all and then at the empty chair. He had missed that. He had told Chesney he was watching him. Watching his every move, he had kept tabs on Chesney until the day he had died, but he had missed all of this. How he did not know. Maybe he was getting sloppy in his old age he thought. His mind was racing, he needed to find a way to slow them down; he needed to give Eliot time. Suddenly he threw his head back and laughed loudly, a haunting, insane laugh that took everybody by surprise.

"Care to share the joke Mr. Ford?" Rockwell asked.

"The joke Rockwell, well the joke is on all of you. My team will have got the backup and are probably waiting outside ready to come in and take you all down. Do you really think I would come in here unprepared? Huh, do you think I am stupid enough to just wait for your hired gun to pick me up and then let him bring me here to kill me without a fight. Did you not learn from our first encounter with each other?" Nate said hoping to put a little fear and uncertainty into the men.

All the men looked at each other then back at Nate. Nate forced himself to relax, forced the smile to remain on his face. He needed to show them that he was not at all worried. That he knew he was safe. He was sure Eliot was outside with the rest of the team. He just needed to give him time. He could see his demeanor was having the desired effect, uneasiness had settled upon all of them.

"Last ditch attempt at a con Ford, do you take us all for fools? Mr. Black is very good at what he does, that is why we hired him. Mr. Black, I take it this is a ruse on his part?" Culpepper asked the assassin an uneasy note in his voice.

"We are quite secure in this warehouse. The security is state of the art and nobody…nobody is getting anywhere near the building without me knowing. I assure you gentlemen there is no danger whatsoever." Black said quietly.

"Very well, well let's get this done then." Ian said to Black, suddenly he wanted this over with, before Nate could pull a rabbit out of his hat again. "Kill him…and make sure he suffers a little." He added for good measure. The rest of the group nodded their assent to the instruction and Mr. Black stepped in front of Nate holding a wicked looking blade in his hand.

**Has Eliot waited too long to make his move…Will Nate survive… Thank you all for your positive reviews…hope you not too disappointed that it is not Moreau.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

Eliot stared at Sterling for a moment then nodded his thanks to the man. He turned to Hardison and asked him what he had managed with the security around the Warehouse.

"Camera's all over man…I hacked them and put them on a loop so we should be good there. Parker took care of the laser beams so we are good there." Hardison said. He and Parker had been busy for the last couple of hours taking care of all the security that the assassin had put in and around the warehouse. "I don't know what's inside though. This is state of the art stuff Eliot, he is very thorough." Hardison warned.

"Yeah, we also don't know how many men are in there with him…I mean do you think he is working completely alone in this?" Parker asked.

"I don't know Parker but whatever is inside we will deal with. Hopefully Hardison has taken care of all the outside stuff so he won't see us coming. Surprise is our best ally now and we can only deal with what is there when we get in." Eliot said. Eliot knew that Hardison was good at what he did, he was the best, each of them were the best in their fields. That is why they mostly win. That is why they were going to win this time too he thought.

"So what's the plan?" Sterling asked.

"Ok, well you need to split your men. There are two entrances to the warehouse, excluding the vehicle entrance. Hardison can you get that thing open?" Eliot asked.

"Yeah, already working on it, it will be open when you need it to be." Hardison confirmed. Anything that was electrical or computer run he could hack and he could bend to his will. That was his gift and he was using it to good effect now.

"Good. Then we will go in simultaneously at all three entrances. We make the entrance loud and in your face. We need to throw them off balance that will give us an edge. I don't think they will be expecting us, Hardisons work with the monitors and the other security will lull them into a sense of security. We need to use that." Eliot said talking to Sterling more than the others. Sterling nodded and left to brief his men on the plan.

"Where do you want us?" Sophie asked.

"Right here, I don't want any of you going in." Eliot said looking at all of them and seeing shock, then anger, then revolution on their faces.

"You kidding right?" Hardison asked in disbelief.

"No, Hardison I can't have you three in there. I don't know what we are going to be up against but I know it is going to be fast and furious…"

"You can't expect us to stand out here and just let you and Sterling go do your stuff…" Parker said, she for one was not going to wait around she was going to go in a help save Nate.

"Parker…all of you listen to me. I can't do what I need to if I am worrying about you. I need to be able to…I just can't…Please, I need you guys to stay out…" Eliot said unable to express himself fully under the intense and angry gaze of his friends. "I need to concentrate on Nate and that won't happen if you three are in there."

"Eliot we are quite capable…" Sophie started to say but Eliot interrupted her.

"I don't doubt that Sophie…but you will be a distraction, to me…I can't divide my attention. My focus need to be on Nate, on getting him out alive. I can't do that if I am worrying about getting you three out alive too." Eliot tried to explain, not very well he thought.

Sophie just stared at Eliot for a minute. She knew what he was trying to say but to ask her and the others to wait outside not knowing what was going on inside the warehouse…she did not think she or Parker or Hardison would be able to do it.

"I know…I know you want to be in there…I know you want to help…but you will be helping more if you stay out here, and stay safe. Please guys…let me do what I do." Eliot asked.

"Ok…" Sophie said gently and held up her hand to still both Parker and Hardisons objections. "Ok Eliot we will let you do your thing. But you have got to promise to keep your earbud in and if something goes wrong…" Sophie looked at him with steel in her eyes, "Then we are coming in…this ends here one way or another."

They were interrupted by the arrival of two vehicles and the sound of the opening of the vehicle entrance. They watched intently as the vehicles entered the building and then the door closed again. It was time. They could not wait much longer, all the players were on the board and the game was about to start. Sterling walked up to the group and informed Eliot that his men were ready on his signal. Eliot nodded and told him to get them into their positions at their respective entrances.

"Eliot, be careful…but bring Nate back to us." Sophie said. She was torn between her concern for Eliot and her fear for Nate.

Parker looked at the Hitter then sprung forward and threw her arms around him. Once he had disentangled himself from the young their Hardison was there to grab him and pull him into a hug.

"Stay out here…promise me you will stay out." Eliot said. He knew these people and although they had said they would remain outside he was not sure they would. "Sophie…"

"We will not go in…None of us will Eliot, I promise you that. You concentrate on staying alive and getting Nate out alive." Sophie said tears brimming in her eyes.

Eliot looked at all three of them and then made his way over to Sterling and the three team leaders he had with him. They spoke for a few minutes making sure everybody understood the plan. Eliot had instructed that they go after the men who had entered in the vehicles as well as any other security that might be inside. Eliot was going for Nate. He would deal with the hitman; it was Sterling and his men's job to cover his back.

"On my count…" Eliot said over the Comms. "Three…two…one…go, go, go." He said and the stillness of the morning was shattered by the sound of small explosives as each door was blown simultaneously. They entered the warehouse quickly in a haze of smoke and then the air was shattered once again this time by the sound of gunshots and screams.

**OK we are at the final stages…thanks for the reviews as always really appreciated.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

Nate watched with morbid fascination as Mr. Black raised his hand in order to bring the knife down into Nate's flesh. The explosions as Sterling and Eliot dramatically entered the warehouse caused a momentary hesitation on the part of the assassin. Nate took his chance; he flung himself to one side causing the chair he was seated in to topple over and flung Nate to the ground, his head hitting the cold concrete floor.

Mr. Black heard the explosion and hesitated in bringing the knife down. He turned toward the commotion and realized with disbelief what was happening. He turned back towards Nate but the man had flung himself to one side. The chair and Nate were now lying on the floor of the warehouse.

Chaos reigned in the warehouse. Blacks' men whom he had stationed at each door and in various strategic locations inside the warehouse fought back, shots echoed through the building. The six men who were about to watch the assassination of Nate sprang from their places and rushed towards the vehicles. The men in the vehicles climbed out of them at the same time, each one armed with sub-machine guns. The Interpol agents shouted out telling the men to put their weapons down and that they were under arrest. The instruction was ignored. The men opened fire. Two of the Interpol agents went down but at the same time both men were taken out. Their bodies bullet ridden; bullets reigned down but Eliot had anticipated the locations of the guards. The Interpol agents had men covering them, taking out the other men who would have otherwise had them in a cross fire situation. Sterling rushed forward and cornered the six men with his team. He felt a bullet breeze by him and ducked a little lower. He none the less converged on the men along with the rest of his team. The men now had nowhere to go. None of them had weapons, none of them expected to need one. They looked at Sterling in disbelief and utter dejection. Each of them raised their hands and surrendered to the Interpol man. Sterling instructed his men to put them in cuffs and then turned around to look for Eliot.

Eliot went through the door first. He had a gun in his hand, he hated guns but this time they were necessary. He saw the man come at him and pulled the trigger felling him instantly. His only concern was to find Nate. He did not care how many men he would have to kill to do that. He was now the Eliot Spencer that men feared as a cold blooded killer. He scanned the warehouse through the smoke caused by the explosions. He caught the scene as Nate toppled over to the side. Without paying any attention to what else was happening in the warehouse and without any concern for his own safety Eliot ran flat out towards the fallen man. At this point bullets were flying around the warehouse and the noise of the gunshots were deafening. Everything slowed down and seemed to be happening in slow motion. Eliot saw Black move towards the inert body of Nate who had not moved since hitting the ground. Eliot sped up and dived the last few feet, over Nate's body and into Mr. Blacks. Both men were thrown backwards with the force of Eliot's weight. They rolled apart and came to their feet immediately. Eliot had lost his gun along the way and stood facing the man. Black had the knife he was going to use in his hand and stared back at Eliot.

"Mr. Spencer…this is unexpected." Black said as he surveyed the Hitter.

He noted that Eliot had two knives stowed away in shoulder holsters and no other weapons. Black felt relieved that Eliot did not have a gun on him and believed he stood a chance of taking out Eliot and make his escape. Eliot smiled at the man. He knew he was going to go for him; it is what he would have done. Black moved fast, he lunged forward swinging his knife at Eliot's stomach. If the blade had stuck it would have ripped Eliot's gut open, but Eliot was just as quick. He anticipated the move and sprang backward hollowing out his middle. His hand flew to his shoulder holster and pulled out one of his knifes. Black continued his onslaught coming after Eliot fast and deadly. Eliot was on the back foot. It was all he could do to hold of his attacker. The steel of the knives glistened in the brightly lit warehouse and the clash of metal on metal was drowned out by the deafening noise of the gunfight happening behind them. Black and Eliot though, saw nothing but each other. They were both accomplished in the craft of knife fighting and this was fight to the death. One of them would not walk away from it and both of them knew it. They parried with each other, both experts in the use of the small weapons in their hands. Both now had shallow cuts to their hands and bodies. In a final rush the Black lunged forward again swinging his knife. Eliot was faster and his knife bit into the assassins' neck ripping open his throat. Black stared at Eliot then fell boneless to the floor dead. As his body hit the ground a silence filled the warehouse. The battle was over and all that was left was the cleanup. Eliot turned on his heel and headed for where Nate lay.

His gut churned as he approached the still form, he hoped he was not too late. Nate lay on his side. He did not move as Eliot approached and Eliot saw that his face was slack. As he kneeled beside the fallen man he reached out and put his fingers on Nate's neck looking for a pulse. He let out a deep breath that he had been holding since he knelt by his fallen friend as he felt a pulse. Strong and steady, he realized that Nate must have just been knocked unconscious when his head hit the floor. He was about to move back to Blacks body to retrieve the handcuff keys when Parker appeared, she knelt behind Nate and unlocked the shackles. Sophie helped Eliot to lay Nate out on the floor. Hardison removed his jacket and placed it under Nate's head. Eliot leaned in and tapped Nate on the face calling his name urgently. Nate stirred slightly and then opened his eyes.

"Is it over…?" He asked weakly.

"Yes Nate it's over, we have them all." Eliot confirmed.

"Good…good…" Nate said tiredly his eyes falling closed again. Then sudden panic hit him and his eyes flew open, panic registering in them. "The team…? Sophie…?" Nate asked anxiously.

"I'm right here Nate, we all are. We are all ok." Sophie said soothingly taking Nate's hand as she knelt beside him. "The ambulance is on its way Nate; everything is going to be fine." Sophie continued stroking his hand and tears again appearing in her dark eyes.

"No…no…no hospital, please, take me home. I want to go home." Nate said quietly.

"Nate I think…" Eliot started to say before Nate interrupted him.

"Please Eliot; I just want to go home…" Nate said weakly before succumbing to unconsciousness.

Eliot looked down at Nate. He had checked him for injuries and found none. He could not be absolutely sure that he had not sustained any internal damage but Eliot decided it was unlikely. Nate needed rest, rest and a lot of doing absolutely nothing. He needed peace and quiet and rest. He would probably get that at home more than in a hospital. Eliot looked up at his family and nodded slightly. "Let's take him home shall we?"

Just then Sterling approached the group. He stopped and looked at each of them then at the unconscious man on the floor. "The ambulance is on the way." He told Eliot.

"We won't need it Sterling. We are taking Nate home…" Eliot said a challenge in his voice. He was fully expecting Sterling to try to arrest them and Nate.

"Fine…just tell him we are square now…" Sterling said and turned to walk back to his men who were busy with the cleanup and taking everybody into custody. All in all the battle in the warehouse had taken only thirty minutes. Four of his men had been injured but there were no fatalities. He had all six of the would-be murder-by-proxy killers and the assassin was dead. He turned to watch the little group exit the warehouse, Eliot carrying the unconscious figure of their leader. He was flanked by Hardison and Parker and Sophie led the way. He shook his head slightly. He now understood why Nate had done what he had on the Falcon; these people were not just his team, they were his family. In a way, Sterling envied the man. He found himself smiling inwardly to himself, he was secretly glad his friend had found these people; criminals or not, they had given Nate his life back. The man deserved that at least.

An hour later Eliot pulled into the driveway of the teams' Portland home. They all had their own apartments but this was home. It was a large house with separate suites for each of them. Sophie and Nate shared one and it was into that that Eliot carried Nate and laid him down on the bed. Sophie then shooed them out of the room. She told them that they should all go get some sleep, they all needed it. There would be plenty of time later to talk. The three of them looked at Nate then at Sophie, nodded and filed out of the room. Hardison and Parker disappeared into Hardisons rooms. Eliot quickly checked to see if all the security was in place then went to his own room. He lay on the bed and finally allowed himself to relax. As the tension ebbed out of him his eyes drifted close.

Within thirty minutes of arriving home, the house was quiet. All five of them slept peacefully. Sophie snuggled up into Nate who had woken up, had taken her into his arms, kissed her on her forehead, told her he loved her and then passed out again. Sophie smiled at him, kissed his forehead and told him that she loved him too. She laid her head on his chest and snuggled close to his body and drifted off to sleep. Hardison and Parker lay wrapped in each other's arms their soft Hardisons soft snoring the only sound emanating from his room. Eliot lay sprawled out on his bed. His body totally relaxed. His family was safe; all of them were here in their home alive and well. He was content and he slept properly for the first time since the start of the whole affair.

**THE END…thanks again for all the reviews. I really enjoyed writing the story and am glad you enjoyed reading it. I hope you are all satisfied with the ending **


End file.
